Drowning on our watch

On 1 September 2013, the ABC program "Background Briefing" examined some of the issues about responsibility for rescue at sea.

Australia’s search and rescue authorities stand accused of unnecessary delays, disregarding distress calls and passing responsibility to Indonesia, which is not equipped to carry out rescue operations

Those accusations were again made over the weekend with another sinking and drowning near Indonesia. The issues are complex.

The boat was in Indonesia's search and rescue zone, which covers most of the ocean between Indonesia and Christmas Island, so Australia's maritime safety authority transferred responsibility to its Indonesian counterpart, BASARNAS.
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Indonesia's BASARNAS office in West Java, which responds to boats in distress on the coastline commonly used by people smugglers, is hopelessly ill-equipped to conduct open sea rescues. The head of operations there, Rochmali, says all they have at their disposal are rubber boats and traditional fishing vessels, which can't go more than five nautical miles from shore.

The podcast is compelling listening or if you prefer there is the transcript: