BANJARMASIN - Indonesian authorities expanded a second-day search Monday, Sept. 14, for 129 people missing after the passenger ferry Virgo Transport 8 capsized in the Java Sea.
The vessel was sailing from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan with 243 people on its manifest — 213 passengers and 30 crew members — when it encountered severe weather early Sunday. Contact was lost at about 2 a.m. WITA, according to an initial Basarnas account carried by ANTARA.
By Monday, authorities said 108 people had been rescued and six bodies recovered, leaving 129 people unaccounted for under the manifest-based tally. Families gathered at the command center at Banjarmasin’s Trisakti port and at a port in Surabaya, awaiting word on relatives still unaccounted for.
In Reuters’ latest Monday update, Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii said at least 622 personnel and 17 ships had been deployed, backed by helicopters and other aircraft.
High waves and strong winds were making it difficult for rescuers to reach and enter the overturned vessel, while specialist underwater personnel were being prepared for deployment when conditions allowed.
The capsized vessel was about 80 nautical miles, or nearly 150 kilometers, from the command center at Trisakti port. Aerial footage released by Basarnas showed it overturned and partially submerged, with its red-painted underside above the water.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said Sunday that helicopter surveillance showed the vessel had capsized but had not sunk as of about 3 p.m.
The cause remained under investigation. Syafii said waves reached about three meters during the incident, while another Basarnas official said strong waves struck the vessel’s starboard side before it leaned heavily.
The latest figures superseded Sunday’s preliminary midday count, when Basarnas reported through ANTARA that 102 survivors had been rescued and one body recovered by noon WITA. Rescue totals rose later Sunday as additional vessels reached survivors.
Search teams continued operating Monday despite the rough conditions. “We remain hopeful of finding more survivors,” Syafii said in a video briefing reported by the Associated Press.
