Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Sep 13

Indonesian Rescuers Search for 140 After 103 Evacuated From Missing Java Sea Ferry

Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Sep 13

Indonesian Rescuers Search for 140 After 103 Evacuated From Missing Java Sea Ferry

Q: With 86 rescued and one dead, what happened to the remaining 150 passengers after the Virgo Transport 8 capsized in the dark?

The fate of the remaining roughly 150 people was still unknown at the time of the latest reports; they were being treated as missing after the Virgo Transport 8 capsized overnight in the Java Sea. Authorities said 86 survivors had been picked up by three nearby vessels — 16 by TB Mauhaw IX, 38 by TB TCP, and 32 by MV Haida — while one death had been confirmed. Based on the ship’s reported passenger total of 241 to 243 people, that left about 154 to 156 unaccounted for, though some figures may still have been under verification because Indonesian reports differed slightly on the manifest. What appears to have happened is that many of those still unaccounted for were either stranded at sea after the ship overturned in darkness and bad weather, or had not yet been reached or identified when the early rescue numbers were released. The vessel reportedly lost contact around 2 a.m., and rescuers were working from its last known position about 148 kilometers from Banjarmasin. Search teams from Basarnas and other Indonesian maritime agencies were sent to the area, and an operations post was established at Trisakti. Officials were also coordinating with port, navy, police and navigation authorities while monitoring rough weather, which may have hampered both the initial distress response and the accounting of passengers. So, the short answer is that the remaining passengers had not been confirmed rescued or dead; they were still the subject of an active search-and-rescue operation.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 13

140 people were still being sought on Sunday after 103 were evacuated from the missing Virgo Transport 8 and one evacuee died, according to Indonesia’s search and rescue agency.
The passenger ship, carrying more than 240 people from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, lost contact around 2 a.m. after encountering bad weather in the Java Sea.
Rescuers sent ships, a helicopter and a response team to the vessel’s last known position, while some survivors were being taken to an East Java port.
The incident again spotlights Indonesia’s reliance on ferry travel across its 17,000 islands and the sector’s persistent safety-enforcement problems.