As reported on BaliDiscovery on 12 August 2026, the KMP Putri Yasmin, a car ferry that caught fire on Wednesday morning near Sekotong Beach, Lombok, causing all passengers and crew to abandon ship.
UPDATE 27 AUGUST 2026. 2 People Died and 24 Injured in the KMP Putri Yasmin ferry sinking. Search efforts continues for as many as 4 passengers still missing.
One day after the incident, updated information is now available on the fire, collated from numerous sources including BaliPost and the State News Agency ANTARA:
- Officials have corrected earlier voyage reports and now state that the KMP Putri Yasmin was sailing from Padangbai to Lember, Lombok. Initial press reports incorrectly stated that the ferry was sailing from Lombok to Bali.
- The number of passengers and crew onboard the vessel has now been updated by the Mataram Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) to 212. This is an increase from the 114 passengers and 17 crew (131 souls) reported earlier, which was based on erroneous passenger manifests maintained by the ship and the ship’s management.
- On Thursday morning, it is believed that all passengers and crew have now been evacuated from the ship, including one person who died in the incident.
- SAR teams now report five passengers are missing and unaccounted for: Yasir Arafat, Selvina Rambu Mayi, I Made Sutarjana, Slamet Yulianto, and I Ratu Agung Ayu Sekar.
- Selviana Rambu Mayi (20) from Sumba, NTT, was traveling on the KMP Putri Yasmin with her newlywed husband, Jhon Lu Keimara, who made it safely back to show in Lembar, West Lombok. The couple, who live and work in Bali, at the time of the tragedy were in the process of returning to their home village to celebrate their recent marriage. The couple had originally planned to travel on a fast ferry from the Port of Benoa but diverted to the KMP Putri Yasmin after tickets for the fast ferry sold out.
- The evacuation of the ferry was carried out by a combined SAR effort involving numerous vessels.
- Quoted by BaliPost, Muhamad Hariyadi, the head of the SAR-Mataram Office, said he could not discount suggestions that there may be more than the current count of 212 victims, because a definitive count of passengers and crew is the sole responsibility of the ship’s operator.
- SAR efforts continue on Thursday, both onshore and at sea, as officials act on reports from individuals who are still awaiting confirmation of the whereabouts of their family members and associates.
- Because of the unclear and arguably unreliable information on passenger totals from the shipping company, intensive SAR efforts will continue in response to new reports of missing persons. Hariyadi explained that SAR officials view three days following a shipping mishap as the “golden time period” – the optimal period when missing individuals and unidentified passengers can be found. In the meantime, SAR Mataram continues to handle and process reports from those waiting to hear from people believed to have been members of the passenger or crew complement on the imperiled vessel.
- A SAR helicopter from SGi Air Bali continues to join search efforts for people who may have abandoned ship and are still unaccounted for.
- The name of the passenger who died in the incident is a 19-year-old female, Indah Dwi Septiani, with a listed address at Asrama Brimob, Ampenan, Lombok.
- 2 Australian tourists are among those successfully evacuated from the burning ship.
- The Australian, The Courier Mail, and Daily Mail quote Australian James Scooth, who suffered broken ribs in the incident. Scooth said he saw large flames and no lifeboats as he joined fellow passengers in abandoning the ship.
- Reports that waves as high as 4 meters in the area surrounding the burning ship complicated evacuation efforts,
- The incident took place less than 10 days after another ferry, KM Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire off Madura Island, killing five people. That vessel was also carrying more people than its manifest showed.
The Straits between Bali and Lombok are traversed by back-to-back passenger and car ferries that operate on a daily, round-the-clock basis.
Stay Informed on Bali Tourism-Related News: Subscribe to Bali Update