Indonesia searches Java Sea for 129 missing after Virgo Transport 8 capsizes

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency said on Monday that 129 people remained unaccounted for after the passenger ferry Virgo Transport 8 overturned in the Java Sea on Sunday. Crews had rescued 108 people and recovered six bodies. The ship had been sailing from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, on the southern coast of Borneo.

The manifest listed 243 people: 213 passengers and 30 crew, plus 89 vehicles. Basarnas and local port officials gave the same headcount. Indonesian ferries often carry more people than the paper list. Officials noted that gap without offering a revised total.

Contact was lost at about 2 a.m. local time on Sunday. The captain had reported waves of up to three metres and a heavy list to starboard. A passing helicopter later confirmed the hull was upside down in the Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometres from Banjarmasin. The operator, PT Virgo, alerted authorities at 4:10 a.m., roughly two hours after the last radio contact.

What survivors described

Rinto Arahap, 33, told AFP that many passengers were asleep when the vessel began to heel. He said he heard a sound like metal breaking about five hours into the voyage. People climbed onto tables and pushed for life jackets. He said the crew did not issue a warning. Someone on board shouted that the ship was listing. He spoke from a stretcher at a health post in Banjarmasin.

Survivors were landed at Trisakti Port. Videos released by Basarnas showed an overturned ferry in choppy water during a helicopter search. The first rescue ship reached the pier before nightfall on Sunday, an AFP reporter at the dock wrote.

The search on Monday

Mohammad Syafii, the Basarnas chief, said about 655 personnel from the military, police and other agencies were on 17 ships and aircraft. Other tallies put the figure at 622 people on 17 vessels and five aircraft. Divers and navy underwater drones were assigned to work the hull. Arianto Ardi, a rescue official, said wind and current made it hard for ships to hold station against the wreck. By Monday afternoon none of the missing had been found in the new day's sorties.

The last recorded position was about 150 kilometres south of Banjarmasin, near 93 miles on the New York Times conversion. The ship left Surabaya at 10:33 on Saturday and had been due in Banjarmasin at 2 p.m. Sunday, according to two maritime tracking sites cited by the BBC.

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the ferry was certified for 500 passengers and was not overloaded on the official count. The cause, weather, a technical failure or a handling error, remains under investigation. Families gathered at ports in Surabaya and Banjarmasin.

The route and the weather

The Java Sea crossing is a workhorse run for vehicles and drivers moving between Java and Kalimantan. The passenger breakdown on the manifest included 59 adult passengers, one child, and 126 drivers and vehicle assistants, plus 27 ship-related workers. That mix explains the 89 vehicles. When a roll-on roll-off ferry lists, unsecured cargo and fuel in vehicle tanks change the centre of gravity fast.

Heri Purwanto, head of the Banjarmasin Sea Port Authority, said the response began as soon as the company reported the loss of contact. Nearby tugboats and passing vessels joined the first lift of survivors. Basarnas said all other ships in that part of the Java Sea were told to report any sighting.

Monday's question is whether weather will let divers enter the inverted hull. Until that happens, the 129 figure is a search total, not a confirmed death toll. The six recovered bodies and 108 survivors are the only closed numbers the agency has given.