appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Associated Press

Indonesian rescuers say about 130 passengers and crew are missing after a ferry carrying more than 240 people sank in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday. At least 107 people were rescued and the bodies of six passengers were recovered as the search operation expanded in waters around the vessel’s last known position.
The ferry was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, officials said.
The vessel’s captain had earlier reported rough seas with waves up to 3 metres (10ft) before issuing a distress message, saying the ship was listing, said I Putu Sudayana, who heads the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office. Authorities later received information indicating the vessel had overturned and then sunk.
The rescue agency in Banjarmasin said it received a report two hours after contact was lost with the Virgo Transport 8 at about 2am on Sunday. The ship had departed from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, en route to Banjarmasin, a city on Borneo Island.
“The ship’s operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather,” Sudayana said in a video briefing.
In response, a rescue ship was headed to the Virgo Transport 8’s estimated last known position, he said, and authorities were deploying rescue teams supported by four vessels, including a navy ship and a helicopter, as the ferry was carrying a large number of passengers and crew.


Survivors are rescued and dead bodies recovered
Initial information indicated the vessel’s last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148km (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin. The ship’s manifest said it was carrying 243 people – 213 passengers and 30 crew members – although it is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers to differ from the manifest.
Sudayana, who is coordinating the search, said the agency was working with maritime authorities and other relevant agencies while closely monitoring the weather in the area.
Search teams, helped by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels, had rescued 107 people and recovered six bodies by Sunday afternoon, he said.
The Japanese-built Virgo Transport 8 is designed to transport both passengers and vehicles.
Distraught relatives await news
Hundreds of relatives gathered at a command centre in Banjarmasin’s Trisakti port on Sunday, awaiting word on family members believed to be aboard the ferry. Many anxiously checked passenger manifests and rescue lists as authorities continued searching for survivors.

“I was shocked when I saw my uncle’s name on the passenger list,” said a woman who goes by a single name, Bunga. “But I felt relieved after officials told me he had been rescued.”
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters happen regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.
Last month, at least 211 people were rescued from an Indonesian ferry that caught fire in rough seas near the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, while one person was found dead and four others remain missing. The incident happened less than two weeks after another Indonesian ferry, the Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire in waters off the main island of Java, leaving at least five people dead.
Sunday’s accident comes just four days after a fire that gutted a passenger ferry in the Philippines killed at least 76 people, with at least 10 others still missing.


Japan’s Natuna port proposal highlights Indonesia’s balancing act on China

Health crisis grips Indonesians enduring haze: ‘my eyes sting, my head hurts’

Hong Kong launching pilot scheme to bring in foreign carers for the elderly

How wildfires are threatening Indonesia’s economy and carbon market

Indonesia

Indonesia searches for 130 passengers after ship sinks in Java Sea

Indonesia has deployed a rescue vessel to search for passengers aboard a ship that was earlier reported missing in the Java Sea. Photo: Facebook/basarnas.banjarmasin

Indonesian officials sail during a search and rescue mission for a passenger ship that sank in the Java Sea on Sunday. Photo: EPA/Basarnas

Relatives of affected passengers look on as an officer writes updates on a whiteboard about the stricken ship at the Trisakti Bandarmasih Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Sunday. Photo: AFP


When Indonesia burns, these women run towards the fire

A member of the Power of Mama on night fire patrol at a palm oil plantation in West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, last month. Photo: Garry Lotulung

Irma, a member of the Power of Mama team that heads out every day during the dry season to battle blazes in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan. Photo: Garry Lotulung

Smog from massive forest and land fires blankets a rural area in Tanjungpura village, Ketapang regency, Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, on August 18. Photo: Garry Lotulung

A Power of Mama volunteer carries a hosepipe to extinguish flames in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on August 20. Photo: Garry Lotulung

 Suriati (left) and Ratinah, members of the Power of Mama team, rest after conducting a patrol in Sungai Putri village on August 17. Photo: Garry Lotulung

Ely Marlina carries a hosepipe to extinguish fires at night in Sungai Awan Kiri village, Indonesia, on August 17. Photo: Garry Lotulung

Wildfires threaten Indonesia’s new capital as carrier ordered in

A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a wildfire in East Kalimantan province, Indonesia, in September. Photo: Reuters

A firefighter sprays water on a wildfire in South Sumatra, Indonesia, on Saturday. Photo: EPA

A helicopter drops water on a wildfire burning through a peatland in Jambi province, Indonesia in August. Photo: AP

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Rescuers evacuated 107, and 6 bodies were recovered, after the vessel travelling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin lost contact in bad weather


Rescuers evacuated 107, and 6 bodies were recovered, after the vessel travelling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin lost contact in bad weather.


Indonesia searches for 130 passengers after ship sinks in Java Sea

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rescuers evacuated 107, and 6 bodies were recovered, after the vessel travelling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin lost contact in bad weather

Rescuers evacuated 107, and 6 bodies were recovered, after the vessel travelling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin lost contact in bad weather