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Aisyah Llewellyn

Indonesia’s latest ferry disaster has exposed persistent weaknesses in maritime safety oversight, experts have said, with poor enforcement and inadequate supervision continuing to leave passengers vulnerable across the sprawling archipelago.
The capsizing of the Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea on Sunday has intensified scrutiny of a system that analysts say too often comes under pressure only after deadly accidents, rather than preventing them.
Six people have been confirmed dead and 129 remain missing after the passenger and cargo ferry capsized amid high winds and rough seas while travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.
According to Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency, 243 people – 213 passengers and 30 crew members – were aboard the vessel when the captain reported bad weather at about 2am local time on September 13.
A total of 108 people were rescued after personnel from agencies including the Indonesian Army and the Search and Rescue Agency were deployed, in the latest of a string of maritime incidents that have renewed questions over how Indonesia regulates and enforces safety at sea.

The latest disaster follows a string of other maritime incidents in recent months.
In August, five people died after a ferry caught fire off the island of Madura, while a blaze aboard another ferry travelling from Bali to Lombok killed one person. In July, a ferry sank in the Bali Strait leaving 19 people dead and 16 missing, and another ferry went down in waters close to South Sulawesi, killing three people with 14 still missing. In May, a tourist boat capsized close to Bengkulu City in Sumatra, resulting in eight deaths.
Following the latest sinking, lawmakers and experts have called for a comprehensive investigation into the incident and a tightening of maritime safety regulations.
In a statement provided to This Week in Asia, Usman Hamid, the head of Amnesty Indonesia, described the Virgo Transport 8 incident as “a humanitarian tragedy” that exposed the state’s failure to protect the safety rights of sea transport users.
Hamid called for an “immediate, independent, impartial and thorough investigation” to determine whether negligence by regulators, the vessel’s owners or other parties had contributed to the disaster, adding that anyone found responsible should be held legally accountable.

He also pointed to survivor testimony that no emergency alarm sounded when the ship capsized in the middle of the night while many passengers slept in cabins below deck.
“The availability of life jackets has also come under scrutiny,” Hamid said, citing survivor accounts that some passengers could not find them and that many people on life rafts were not wearing them.
Data from Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency showed 601 maritime incidents between January and August this year that required search and rescue deployment, including passengers falling overboard, engine failures and fires aboard vessels. In 2025, there were a total of 450 incidents from January to December.
Rise in incidents
Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of the National Transportation Safety Committee, told This Week in Asia he could not comment on the Virgo Transport 8 incident as it was still under investigation but that data compiled by the independent government agency also showed maritime incidents in Indonesia were on the rise.
“However, we do not yet have a definitive conclusion for why that is,” he said.
“What we do know is that extreme weather should never be blamed. We have to learn how to deal with the weather at sea and avoid it. It is not a reason for accidents, but it can be a contributing factor. There are also technical issues such as human factors.”
Tjahjono said the committee was currently conducting a wider investigation into boat safety, and aimed to publish a list of recommendations in the coming months.

One family member still anxiously awaiting news of a loved one aboard the Virgo Transport 8 is Fredy Manuhua, whose younger brother Stefiansa Manuhua, 44, played keyboard in the boat’s band to keep passengers entertained during the voyage.
Manuhua, 48, said he last contacted Stefiansa on Friday and later heard about the ferry incident around 7am on Sunday.
“I went straight to the port in Surabaya and the ferry company confirmed it,” he said. “I have been waiting there ever since and will not leave until there is news.”
Lack of oversight
Aji Suraji, director of postgraduate programmes at the University of Widya Gama in Malang, who specialises in transport safety and engineering, told This Week in Asia that maritime safety was a shared responsibility.
“It is the responsibility of boat operators to ensure that all the standard operating procedures on their vessels are being followed,” Suraji said. “However, it is also the responsibility of external stakeholders such as the Department of Transportation to make sure that vessels are adhering to these procedures.”
While the Department of Transportation had tightened some regulations in recent years, particularly regarding the compilation of accurate boat manifests, Suraji said there was still room for improvement.
“Adhering to standard operating procedures and external oversight of these are weak points in Indonesia when it comes to transport safety,” Suraji said, adding that “there needs to be more control and supervision, with clear and enforced sanctions in place”.

Suraji lamented that too often, transport safety in Indonesia gained attention only when incidents such as the Virgo Transport 8 happened and went viral. “But after that, people forget and are too forgiving. We need to be better at identifying potential issues before they happen and anticipating them.”
The incident has left Manuhua grappling with questions such as why no alarm apparently sounded, and why the captain of the Virgo Transport 8 and 11 crew members left the vessel and were rescued while other passengers were still aboard.
“I hope there will be a full investigation, and I will push for anyone to face the full extent of the law if they were at fault,” he said.
“I am devastated by what has happened. I am so close to my brother and I pray every night to our parents, and tell them that he is still lost and to please send him back to us.
“There are still so many things that we want to do together. I am not ready to lose him.”


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A video image released by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) shows the bottom of passenger ferry Virgo Transport 8 is seen above the water after it overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday. Photo: BASARNAS via AP

A helicopter lands on an Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency vessel at Tri Sakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Thursday, amid search operations for victims of the Virgo Transport 8 sinking. Photo: AFP

Survivors from a passenger ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea arrive at a port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Fredy Manuhua (left) and his younger brother Stefiansa Manuhua. Photo: Handout

People check the passenger manifest of Virgo Transport 8 ferry at the rescuers’ command centre in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Survivors of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized on Sunday while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, wait to disembark following their rescue at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Monday. Photo: AFP

Rescuers carry the body of a victim on a stretcher in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Monday after a passenger ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday. Photo: BASARNAS via AP

Rescue teams prepare to evacuate victims of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry at the port hall before heading to a hospital in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Rescuers work during a search operation after the Virgo Transport 8 ferry sank while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, in the Java Sea, Indonesia, on Sunday. Photo: Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) / Handout via Reuters

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Experts say poor enforcement and inadequate supervision continue to leave passengers vulnerable, amid a rise in maritime incidents


Experts say poor enforcement and inadequate supervision continue to leave passengers vulnerable, amid a rise in maritime incidents.


Marine safety

Amnesty International Indonesia

Indonesia faces reckoning over maritime safety after deadly ferry disaster

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Experts say poor enforcement and inadequate supervision continue to leave passengers vulnerable, amid a rise in maritime incidents

Experts say poor enforcement and inadequate supervision continue to leave passengers vulnerable, amid a rise in maritime incidents