Indonesian rescuers brought ashore nearly two dozen survivors on Tuesday (15th September) from a passenger ship that capsized off Java island over the weekend, with their evacuation delayed by bad weather, officials said.
The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 213 passengers and 30 crew, went down early Sunday (13th September). Three days later, dozens of people remained unaccounted for. The national search and rescue agency, Basarnas, said in a statement on Tuesday that six people had died, 108 had been rescued alive, and 129 others were still missing. These figures, totalling 243 people listed as being aboard at departure, had remained unchanged since Sunday.
The ferry lost contact with its shipping company shortly after departing Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city on Java island, bound for Banjarmasin on Borneo. It lost contact around 2 am local time on Sunday after encountering severe weather in the Java Sea near Masalembo. Footage released by the rescue agency on Monday (14th September) showed the capsized vessel inverted, with part of the hull visible above the waterline before it settled further.
Basarnas said 22 survivors were brought to a harbour in Banjarmasin on Tuesday after bad weather had prevented their rescue the day before. Local search and rescue agency head I Putu Sudayana told reporters, “The plan was to evacuate them to Trisakti Port yesterday, but adverse weather conditions prevented us from doing so.” He added, “We cannot fight nature, the swells and waves in the area were extremely high.”
Four bodies were also airlifted to Banjarmasin on Tuesday, Basarnas said. High waves and strong winds have repeatedly complicated rescue work throughout the operation, at times limiting diving and other underwater efforts and forcing delays in bringing survivors to land. Survivors have been transferred between vessels at sea because of the conditions and the difficulty of docking larger ships at the port, with medical checks and triage prioritised once the latest group reached shore.
Nearly 1,100 rescuers, including personnel from the navy and police, have taken part in the operation, supported by more than a dozen vessels and five aircraft. Joint teams from Basarnas, the navy, police, and other agencies have expanded the search area over successive days while continuing efforts to locate those still missing. Authorities are coordinating air and sea assets across multiple sectors to maximise coverage, with the priority remaining to find any survivors while recovering those who did not make it.
Families have gathered at ports in Banjarmasin and Surabaya seeking updates on relatives believed to be among the missing. Officials have stressed that the figures for the dead and missing could change as the search continues and further verification takes place.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that relies heavily on boat connections for daily transport and tourism. The incident underscores the challenges of maritime travel across the country’s vast island network, where ferries remain an essential link for passengers, vehicles, and goods despite risks posed by weather and operational standards. Lax safety standards and unpredictable weather have been cited as factors in such disasters.
Search efforts remain active on the third day, with additional resources committed to surface and underwater operations as conditions allow. Further updates are expected as more information becomes available from the ongoing response.
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