Ferry capsizes in the Java Sea, search continues for 129 missing people

The search-and-rescue operation in Indonesia is continuing without interruption following the capsizing of a passenger ferry in the Java Sea, where bad weather and powerful waves caused the incident. Authorities are searching for at least 129 people who remain missing.

So far, 108 people have been rescued alive from the sea, while teams have recovered the bodies of six passengers.

The “Virgo Transport 8” ferry had departed from Surabaya, in East Java, bound for Banjarmasin, in South Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. More than 240 people were on board, including 213 passengers and 30 crew members, as well as 89 motor vehicles. Local officials have warned that the figures on official passenger lists do not always match the actual number of people traveling.

Before sending its distress signal, the captain reported waves up to 3 meters high and said that the vessel was listing. The ferry capsized about 148 kilometers from the port of Banjarmasin.

The transport minister said that, according to aerial observations, the 119-meter-long vessel had been seen overturned but had not yet sunk completely. Dozens of watercraft, 4 military vessels and 2 helicopters are taking part in the operation.

Meanwhile, hundreds of relatives have gathered at Banjarmasin’s Trisakti port, anxiously awaiting information about the fate of their loved ones.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, frequently experiences ferry accidents, as maritime transport remains the main means of travel between the islands, while safety standards are not always strictly enforced. The incident occurred just days after two other ferry fires, one in Bali and the other in the Philippine Islands, in which dozens of people lost their lives.