Singapore family stranded after Bintan speedboat capsizes

“After the capsize, we could not see anything because it was dark underneath, and the salt water made it painful to open our eyes,” she said. “We had to feel our way along the sides of the boat to find an escape route, as the boat was too heavy to lift.”

Sharifah and five family members managed to escape within seconds of the boat overturning.

Another relative, Sayyid Muhammad Fariid Syed Amzah Alsagoff, who was carrying his six-month-old baby, was able to escape from under the boat after about a minute. He struggled to hold his baby with one arm as he reached for the mangrove trees with the other, while also fighting the current, she said.

Sharifah’s brother and his nine-year-old daughter, meanwhile, took the longest to escape and were trapped under the boat for about four minutes, she said.

“We were desperately trying to flip the boat over, but the strong current, high tide, and heavy rain made it nearly impossible,” said Sharifah. “My brother later shared that they were gasping for air and that my niece was close to losing consciousness underwater.”

The two eventually escaped after her brother pushed his daughter downwards and to safety – the life jackets they had worn made it difficult for them to slip out from beneath the boat – before he, too, escaped.

All of them managed to climb onto the mangrove trees and waited for about 40 minutes until a boat returned to check on them.

All of them were unhurt, save for some minor injuries.

Sharifah said they suffered losses amounting to around $8,000, including four iPhones, wallets, identification and bank cards, and car keys.

“While we are grateful that everyone survived, we believe this incident raises serious concerns about passenger safety, operator qualifications, emergency preparedness and accountability,” she said.

She said that while the family was taken to the departure point via a large boat, they were not informed that they would be transported on smaller speedboats for the mangrove tour.

They also later found out that the operators did not possess the required licence to conduct the tour, and that the tour guide could not swim.

The marine police also told them that the area where they had capsized was known to have crocodiles, snakes and other dangerous wildlife.

“The emotional trauma will stay with us forever,” wrote Sharifah in a video posted on Threads on June 3.