Search continues for 130 missing after passenger ship sinks in Java Sea

Surabaya, Indonesia. Indonesian rescuers searched on Sunday for 130 people missing after a passenger ship sank in the Java Sea during bad weather. Six people were confirmed dead and 113 others were evacuated, the country’s search and rescue agency said.

Ship lost contact

The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 people including 30 crew members, was reported missing after losing contact with authorities early on Sunday.

The vessel had departed Surabaya in East Java on Saturday and was bound for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Rescue operation

The agency later said rescuers had found 107 people safe, while six others had died. A search team, ships and a helicopter were deployed to the vessel’s last known position.

I Putu Sudayana, head of the agency’s Banjarmasin office, said evacuees were transported by different ships and that some would be taken to a port in East Java.

Maritime transport

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries, as sea travel is more affordable and readily available than air transport. Safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, contributing to a relatively high accident rate.