Ferry from Langkawi runs aground at Kuala Perlis, all 251 passengers evacuated safely
The Express Bahagia 98 was pushed onto a sandbank after its captain took evasive action to avoid fishing nets stretched across the channel. Passengers spent four hours aboard before being transferred by Marine Police, fishermen and a private operator.
The Express Bahagia 98 (EB98) ferry, which left Langkawi for Kuala Perlis at 9.30am on Wednesday, 21 October, ran aground on a sandbank near Buoy No. 1 at the entrance to the Kuala Perlis passenger jetty channel around 10.35am. According to the operator, Langkawi Ferry Line Ventures, the captain took evasive action to avoid fishing nets that had been stretched across the navigation channel, and shut down the ferry's two main engines in the process. Wind then pushed the vessel onto a sandbank.
All 251 passengers and 10 crew members were brought safely to the Kuala Perlis terminal by 2.50pm, roughly four hours after the grounding. The evacuation combined Marine Police boats, boats from the Kuala Perlis Fishermen's Association and a private operator, with passengers transferred in stages, many first onto fishing boats and then to the terminal. No injuries were reported.
Towing attempts to pull the ferry off the sandbank failed as the tide fell. The operator said it planned to refloat the EB98 at around 7pm that evening, subject to tide and weather conditions.
The reports raise an obvious question for anyone who uses the Langkawi–Kuala Perlis crossing: why were fishing nets set across a busy navigation channel at the entrance to one of the island's main ferry routes? Kuala Perlis already has a well-known silting problem, with dredging of the berthing lanes repeatedly called for by ferry operators. An obstacle across the fairway adds a different kind of risk. The operator's statement did not say whether a report was lodged against the nets' owners, and the reports do not say whether authorities have responded.
Have you been on this route this week, or have you seen nets across the channel at Kuala Perlis or Kuah? Share what you know in the comments.