Yacht Capsizes in Bali Waters, Chinese Tourists Recall Thrilling Escape

A yacht carrying 94 people capsized due to large waves in Bali, Indonesia, with all passengers rescued. The yacht had 89 passengers onboard, including over a dozen Chinese tourists. Ultimately, everyone was rescued without injuries.

Online footage shows the yacht tilting over and gradually sinking, with passengers crowded at the bow. Many fell into the sea, while some attempted to climb through windows to board nearby boats for safety.

The incident occurred on Wednesday (4th) afternoon, as the yacht was preparing to depart from Lembongan Island to Bali. However, only minutes into the journey, the vessel lost balance due to large waves and capsized near the shore. Port personnel immediately assisted in the rescue.

According to Upstream News, Mr. Xia recounted that the incident occurred around 4 PM when the yacht made a stop at Lembongan Island to pick up and drop off passengers, departing from Lembongan Island dock towards Bali at 4:30 PM.

He recalled that less than three minutes after departing from Lembongan Island, seawater started entering the cabin. "At first, we didn't think the yacht would sink; we thought it was just a bit of water, not a big problem. But the wave frequency was too high. I went out to ask, and the crew said the waves were too big today, and the cabin was taking on too much water."

However, the yacht quickly started sinking, with seawater continuously flooding the cabin. The crew began using walkie-talkies to call for help. Mr. Xia stated that the incident happened only about 100 meters from the shore, allowing the yacht company’s and other civilian boats to arrive swiftly for rescue.

Due to the need to transfer passengers to the bow, everyone was crowded in the passageway. After donning life jackets, Mr. Xia and other passengers used safety hammers from under their seats to break the glass windows to escape. "We went through the window and were pulled over by people on the nearby boat."

Mr. Xia mentioned that there were many foreigners in the cabin, with several female passengers screaming, "The atmosphere was quite tense." After moving to the rescue boat, the yacht had already tilted, taking only about 15 minutes from taking on water to capsizing. "At that time, there were still passengers onboard, clinging to the second-floor railing, also being rescued by people from the nearby boat. The yacht later completely flipped over and sank."

After the incident, several foreign passengers continued to head to Sanur Harbor, while the rest were accommodated on Lembongan Island.

Local police stated that the 89 passengers included 77 foreign nationals and 12 Indonesian citizens, along with 4 crew members and 1 captain.

According to reports, Indonesian police are still investigating the exact cause of the accident. Based on relevant data, the yacht had 125 seats and was not overloaded at the time of the incident. It is suspected that the capsizing was caused by sea weather conditions.