The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsRescuers searching for 140 people from passenger ship in Java Sea
A passenger ship carrying 243 people was reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
Relatives of affected passengers look on as a National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) officer writes updates on a whiteboard amid ongoing rescue operations on the stricken Virgo Transport 8 ferry, at Trisakti Bandarmasih Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 13, 2026. (AFP/Infuz)
R
escuers were searching on Sunday for 140 people from a passenger ship that was earlier reported missing in the Java Sea after 103 others were evacuated, one of whom died, a search and rescue agency official said.
A passenger ship carrying 243 people was reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said.
The Virgo Transport 8 ship set sail on Saturday from the East Java city of Surabaya to the South Kalimantan city of Banjarmasin before losing contact, the agency said.
I Putu Sudayana, the head of Basarnas' Banjarmasin office, said in a video statement that 103 people had been evacuated using different ships and some of them would be taken to an East Java port.
Rescuers launched a search, deploying a team, ships and a helicopter toward the passenger vessel's last known position, he said, without stating what happened to the ship.
Rescuers battled waves of up to 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) to reach the ferry, he added.
"It is extremely risky for vessels. Even our Basarnas vessel, which is 40 metres long, is at great risk," Putu said.
Putu earlier told AFP that the ship's captain had reported that the vessel was "tilting" before losing contact.
The vessel's last position had been detected in the Java Sea, around 150 kilometres (93 miles) from its destination.
Heri Purwanto, head of the Banjarmasin Sea Port Authority, said the ship, which was carrying people and vehicles, lost contact at 2:00 am Sunday (1800 GMT Saturday).
"We responded quickly to the incident report... Our main focus and top priority at this time is the safety of everyone on board the ship, and we are deploying a coordinated rescue operation," Heri added.
