About 130 passengers and crew members are feared missing after a ferry carrying more than 240 people sank amid severe weather in Indonesia’s Java Sea on Sunday.
Rescue teams had pulled 107 people from the water and recovered six bodies by Sunday afternoon as the search continued around the vessel’s last known location.
The Virgo Transport 8 was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when it encountered rough seas.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office, said the captain had reported waves reaching about three metres before sending a distress call indicating that the ferry was listing.
Authorities later received information that the vessel had overturned and subsequently sank.
The Banjarmasin search and rescue agency said it was alerted about two hours after communication with the ferry was lost at around 2am on Sunday.
“The ship’s operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather,” Sudayana said during a video briefing.
A rescue vessel was immediately dispatched towards the ferry’s estimated last known position, while additional search teams were deployed.
Four vessels, including a navy ship, were involved in the operation alongside a helicopter, as authorities raced to locate survivors.
Initial information placed the ferry’s last known position in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometres from a pier in Banjarmasin, a city on the island of Borneo.
According to the vessel’s manifest, 243 people were aboard, including 213 passengers and 30 crew members. However, officials noted that the actual number of people travelling on Indonesian ferries can sometimes differ from figures recorded on manifests.
Sudayana said search authorities were working alongside maritime officials and other agencies while monitoring weather conditions that could affect the rescue operation.
Nearby tugboats and passing vessels also joined the search, helping rescue 107 people from the water and recover six bodies.
The Japanese-built Virgo Transport 8 is designed to carry both passengers and vehicles.
News of the sinking prompted anxious scenes at the Trisakti port in Banjarmasin, where hundreds of relatives gathered at a command centre to seek information about loved ones who may have been aboard.
Some relatives repeatedly checked passenger lists and rescue records as the operation continued.
“I was shocked when I saw my uncle’s name on the passenger list,” said Bunga, who uses one name. “But I felt relieved after officials told me he had been rescued.”
Indonesia, an archipelago made up of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries to connect communities across its vast territory. However, ferry accidents are a recurring problem, with inadequate safety enforcement often cited as a contributing factor.
The latest disaster follows several recent ferry incidents in the region.
Last month, at least 211 people were rescued after an Indonesian ferry caught fire in rough waters near Bali. One person died in the incident, while four others were still missing.
Less than two weeks earlier, another ferry, the Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire off the coast of Java, killing at least five people.
Sunday’s sinking also occurred just four days after a passenger ferry fire in the Philippines killed at least 76 people, with 10 others still reported missing.
