Efforts Intensify to Locate Missing Passengers After Ferry Capsizes in Java Sea

Indonesian authorities have intensified the search for dozens of people who remain missing following the capsizing of a ferry in the Java Sea amid harsh weather conditions. The incident occurred when the Virgo Transport 8 ferry overturned, resulting in the loss of at least six lives. Currently, 129 individuals are unaccounted for.

Onboard the ferry were over 240 people as it traveled from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, Borneo Island. Amid turbulent seas with waves reaching up to three meters, the captain issued a distress call. The ferry lost contact around 2 a.m. on Sunday, and it was reported that the vessel capsized approximately two hours later in the Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometers from Banjarmasin.

Footage released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed the overturned ferry floating amid rough waters during their helicopter operations. To enhance search efforts, Indonesian authorities deployed 17 ships and aircraft, involving around 622 military, police, and other agency personnel. Muhammad Syafii, head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, stated that specialized underwater teams and navy-operated drones are also being used to expedite victim evacuation.

“We remain hopeful of finding more survivors,” Syafii conveyed in a video briefing.

Search teams rescued 108 individuals and recovered six bodies on Sunday. Aerial images provided by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed the ferry’s bottom section above the water following the capsizing event.

The ferry’s manifest indicated 243 passengers and crew were on board, with 213 identified as passengers and 30 as crew members. The vessel also carried 89 vehicles. In Indonesia, it is common for the number of actual passengers to differ from the official manifest.

At the command center in Banjarmasin’s Trisakti port and a port in Surabaya, anxious relatives gathered, hoping for news about family members who were on the ferry. The 119-meter-long Virgo Transport 8, built in Japan in 1987, was operated in Japan until last year before being sold to Indonesia.

Indonesia, composed of over 17,000 islands, often relies on ferries for transportation. Unfortunately, disasters are frequent partly due to insufficient enforcement of safety regulations.