MV Teratai Prima

The MV Teratai Prima was an Indonesian ferry that sank on January 11, 2009, around 04:00 local time (January 10, 21:00 UTC) in the Makassar Strait off West Sulawesi due to stormy weather. Survivors stated that the ferry had been slammed by 4-metre (13 ft) waves twice. The first one hit so hard that the ship became unbalanced (witnesses said the angle approached 30 degrees), before another wave hit from a different direction and sunk the vessel.

Based on the manifest of the ship before sailing, the ferry was carrying 250 passengers and 17 crew at the time of sinking. However, it is believed that the vessel actually was bringing more. Some speculation say that it had over 300 passengers when it was leaving the coast of Pare-Pare. By January 17, 42 people (including the ship's captain) were believed to have been rescued by fishermen and searchers. The captain is being investigated for allegedly ignoring warnings from the Indonesian weather agency that conditions on the crossing were too dangerous. The ferry was making an overnight journey from Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi to Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

Smaller vessels were directed to abandon the search while four navy warships and two patrol boats continued the search for survivors. Sunaryo, a transport ministry maritime official, said, "We are facing very bad weather and rough seas. We don't want to take any risks by sending small boats."