Indonesian rescuers search for 129 missing after ferry capsizes in Java Sea

Capsizing in the Java Sea

Indonesian search and rescue teams expanded operations across the Java Sea on Monday morning to locate 129 people missing after a passenger ferry capsized. The Virgo Transport 8 had departed Surabaya in East Java on Saturday, undertaking an approximately 500-kilometer voyage north to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan on Borneo. Maritime authorities lost contact with the vessel around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday after the captain reported wave heights reaching 3 meters and noted that the ship was listing. Strong waves struck the vessel's starboard side, causing it to overturn roughly 80 nautical miles south of the Basirih Search and Rescue Pier in Banjarmasin. A passing helicopter first reported that the vessel had turned over, leaving its red-painted hull partially exposed above the water.

Search and rescue deployment

By Monday morning, rescue workers had confirmed six fatalities and brought 108 survivors to safety from the 243 people recorded on board. The National Search and Rescue Agency, known as Basarnas, deployed 622 personnel, 17 vessels including naval warships, and five aircraft to conduct searches across six designated sectors. High winds and swells exceeding 2.5 meters hampered efforts to deploy Indonesian Navy divers and unmanned underwater vehicles into the capsized hull. Mohammad Syafii, the head of Basarnas, explained that rough sea conditions prevented teams from entering submerged compartments where passengers might be trapped.

We would also deploy personnel with underwater rescue skills but the current conditions do not allow us to.

Vessel details and survivor accounts

The 119-meter passenger vessel was built in Japan in 1987 and was carrying 213 passengers, 30 crew members, and 89 vehicles. The passenger manifest listed 59 general passengers, 126 drivers and assistants, 27 workers, one child, and 30 crew members, all of whom were Indonesian nationals. Indonesian Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi stated that the ship had a certified capacity of 500 passengers and was not overloaded at the time of the incident. Rescued passenger Rinto Arahab recounted holding onto exterior railings after the ferry flipped in rough seas before climbing to a higher point on the exposed hull.

I felt resigned. I could only pray for my safety.

Port operations and regional safety context

Emergency coordinators established a command base at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, stationing 30 ambulances on standby to transport survivors as vessels brought them ashore. Relatives of the missing gathered at the port seeking information, including families who lost mobile phone contact with passengers during the storm on Sunday morning. Ferries serve as an essential transport network across Indonesia's archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where maritime transit is cheaper and more accessible than domestic flights. The disaster follows two separate ferry fires in August 2026, including an incident off Madura island that killed five people and another near Bali that killed one passenger.