2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster
2012 maritime disaster
The 2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster occurred on 21 June 2012, when a boat carrying more than 200 refugees capsized in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and the Australian external territory of Christmas Island. 109 people were rescued, 17 bodies were recovered, and approximately 70 people remain missing. The boat's passengers were all male and were mostly from Afghanistan.
The boat was discovered by an Australian Customs and Border Protection Service surveillance plane 109 nautical miles (202 km) south of Java at about 3:00 pm AWST. The boat had sent out a distress call on 19 June, but it failed to identify its location. On 20 June, the boat sent out a second distress call, at which point Australian authorities advised the boat to return to Indonesia. The boat was spotted later that day by a surveillance plane as it continued toward Australian waters. "No visual signs of distress" were observed by the plane's crew. Australian authorities then began to prepare to respond when the boat would enter their territory, but it capsized before leaving Indonesian waters.
About 40 survivors were found clinging to the upturned boat, while others were found on floating debris up to four miles (6 km) from the disaster's location. Survivors and bodies of the deceased were transported to Christmas Island aboard the patrol boat HMAS Wollongong.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster” as 2012 maritime disaster. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 2012 maritime disaster. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4625842. Authority coordinates are -8.500, 105.750. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster primary sources, 2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster archive and Indian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “2012 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.