Overview
- The passenger ferry Virgo Transport 8 lost contact during severe weather and was found keel-up in the Java Sea after departing Surabaya for Banjarmasin, with 243 people on board, according to rescue authorities.
- Rescue teams have recovered at least six bodies, saved roughly 108–113 people, and continue to list about 129–130 people as missing after Sunday’s capsize.
- Basarnas, the Indonesian navy and the transport ministry deployed aircraft, more than a dozen ships, specialist navy divers and an underwater drone to search for survivors and bodies.
- Waves reported up to about 2.4 metres and the possibility that people remain trapped inside the overturned hull are slowing recovery and complicating identification and reunification efforts.
- The incident renews scrutiny of Indonesia’s ferry safety, where overcrowding and uneven enforcement have caused repeated disasters and could prompt tougher inspections and a formal investigation into this sinking.