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Six dead and 107 rescued after ferry sinks in Indonesia’s Java Sea

A ferry carrying 243 people overturned and sank Sunday in rough seas while traveling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, leaving about 130 passengers and crew members unaccounted for. Indonesian authorities expanded a search involving ships, tugboats and a helicopter as relatives gathered at a port command center for updates.

Six dead and 107 rescued after ferry sinks in Indonesia’s Java Sea
BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — Indonesian rescue teams were searching Sunday for about 130 people after the passenger ferry Virgo Transport 8 overturned and sank in rough weather in the Java Sea. Officials said 107 people had been rescued and six bodies recovered by Sunday afternoon. The ferry’s manifest listed 213 passengers and 30 crew members, though authorities cautioned that the actual number aboard could differ from the manifest. The vessel was traveling from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. Its last known location was roughly 148 kilometers, or 92 miles, from a Banjarmasin pier. I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office, said the captain had reported seas with waves reaching about 3 meters, or 10 feet. The captain later sent a distress message saying the ship was listing. Authorities subsequently received word that the ferry had overturned before sinking. The search agency said contact with the vessel was lost at about 2 a.m. Sunday, but the ship’s operator notified authorities roughly two hours later after learning that the ferry had encountered severe weather. Rescue teams were sent toward the vessel’s estimated last position with support from four ships, including a navy vessel, as well as a helicopter. Nearby tugboats and passing vessels also helped bring survivors to safety. At Banjarmasin’s Trisakti port, hundreds of relatives gathered at a rescue command center, checking passenger lists and the names of people brought ashore. A woman identified only as Bunga said she was frightened when she saw her uncle’s name on the manifest, then relieved when officials told her he had survived. Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, making passenger ferries an essential form of transportation for many communities. Maritime disasters are frequent, and weak enforcement of safety standards has often been cited as a contributing factor. The sinking follows several recent ferry emergencies in the region. Last month, at least 211 people were rescued after an Indonesian ferry caught fire in rough water near Bali; one person died and four remained missing. A separate ferry fire off Java killed at least five people. Four days before Sunday’s sinking, a passenger ferry fire in the Philippines killed at least 76 people, with at least 10 others still missing.

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