Overview
- The Virgo Transport 8 overturned in severe weather early Sunday while on a 20-hour trip from Surabaya to Banjarmasin with about 243 people on board, and official counts currently list six dead, 108 rescued and 129 missing.
- After drifting and remaining partly afloat, the ship fully sank to the seabed in about 29 metres of water and authorities have started a salvage plan to pull the wreck to shallower ground and right it.
- The salvage will be led by the ship’s owner with support from Basarnas, the Indonesian navy and maritime police to enable divers to enter the vessel and begin evacuation and recovery work.
- Search and diving efforts have been repeatedly limited by heavy swells and strong currents that forced divers to withdraw when currents approached seven knots and kept operations constrained, even as more than a thousand personnel, multiple ships and aircraft continue surface searches.
- Navy divers have taken footage and recovered water‑damaged personal items and documents that will be turned over to the National Transportation Safety Committee for the probe, and investigators will also examine manifests and passenger lists once access to the interior is possible.