Indonesia ferry disaster death toll rises to 20 as underwater search expands

Surabaya, Indonesia. The official death toll from the capsizing and sinking of the Virgo Transport 8 ferry in the Java Sea has risen to 20, officials said on Wednesday, as rescuers expanded an underwater search for further victims.

The ferry was carrying 243 people, including 30 crew members, and an unknown number of vehicles when it capsized in bad weather on September 13 while travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Search operation

Coast guard and Navy personnel recovered eight bodies from inside the vessel over the previous three days, National Rescue Agency head Mohammad Syafii said.

Two further bodies were found washed ashore in Central Kalimantan province, about 253 kilometres from the site of the accident, he added.

Missing passengers

Earlier information on the incident said six people had died and 129 remained missing after the ferry capsized with 243 people on board.

The Java Sea lies between Indonesia’s four most populous islands: Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Borneo.

Previous maritime disasters

The Java Sea has been the site of major air and maritime accidents, including the 1981 sinking of the Tampomas II, in which around 600 people died according to some estimates, and a 2007 plane crash that killed more than 100 people.

Other recent ferry and boat incidents in the region include a September 2026 ferry fire in the Philippines that killed at least 76 people, and ferry fires off Indonesia’s Lombok and Madura islands in August 2026 that killed one and five people respectively.

In July 2026, at least 15 Indian tourists died when a boat capsized off Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island. In January 2026, at least 18 people died when a vessel carrying more than 300 people capsized en route to the Philippines’ southern Sulu province.