An Indonesian passenger ferry carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea after losing contact with its operator in rough weather, triggering a rescue effort that has evacuated 103 people while leaving around 140 unaccounted for.
The Virgo Transport 8 departed Surabaya, on the island of Java, at 10:33 on Saturday morning. It was bound for the South Kalimantan port city of Banjarmasin on Borneo. It was scheduled to arrive Sunday at 14:00 local time. The ferry’s last known position was approximately 150km south of Banjarmasin, recorded around 02:00 on Sunday, according to data from two maritime monitoring sites cited by the BBC. AFP, reporting through Al Jazeera, gave the same position as 81 nautical miles from Banjarmasin.
The search and rescue office in Banjarmasin, on Borneo island, received a report two hours after contact was lost, The Guardian reported. The ship’s operator, PT Virgo, reported the incident to authorities at 04:10 after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather, according to I Putu Sudayana, head of the search and rescue office in Banjarmasin. Sudayana delivered his updates in a video briefing.
Conflicting casualty figures emerged. The Guardian and Al Jazeera, citing Sudayana, reported that 103 people had been evacuated and one had died, leaving 140 missing. The BBC, citing Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, reported six dead and 97 rescued. The search for remaining passengers and crew was ongoing.
Rough seas hamper rescue
Waves as high as 2.5 metres have hampered the operation. Sudayana told reporters that conditions were extremely risky for vessels, noting that even the Basarnas search and rescue vessel, which is 40 metres long, was at great risk. Rescuers deployed a team, ships, and a helicopter toward the passenger vessel’s last known position, he said, without stating what happened to the ship.
A joint task force involving Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, navy, maritime police, and other parties has been set up for the rescue effort. All other vessels in that area of the Java Sea have been alerted to report signs of any passengers. An operations post for handling the accident was established in the Trisakti Port area on Sunday morning. Some of the evacuated passengers would be taken to an East Java port, Sudayana said.
Families wait for news
Relatives gathered at the ports. Rusmilawati, a Banjarmasin resident, went to Trisakti Port seeking information about eight relatives who were passengers on the ship. They had been returning to Banjarmasin after visiting the tombs of several Islamic scholars in Java. “They flew there initially, but for the return journey they wanted to try travelling by ship,” she told BBC Indonesia. As of Sunday afternoon, she had received no information from officials about whether her relatives had been rescued.
The family last heard from one relative through a WhatsApp status update. “The waves are really frightening tonight. Or is this just what it’s normally like travelling by ship, rocking and crashing against the waves?” the relative wrote. “Hopefully they’re safe,” Rusmilawati said.
At Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, Fredy was seeking information about his youngest sibling, Stevie Manuhua, who worked aboard the vessel as a keyboard player entertaining passengers. “We spoke two days ago when the ship was docked in Surabaya. After that, there was no news until now,” Fredy said. He had not received any information about his sibling’s whereabouts.
Misnah broke down in tears. Her husband, Ahmad Supandi, had survived. Ahmad, a freight driver aboard the ferry, was rescued by the vessel MV Haida.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries as a key mode of transportation, with sea routes more affordable and readily available than air travel, The Guardian reported. Safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, resulting in a relatively high accident rate. The BBC reported that a separate ferry caught fire off Madura island last month, killing five. Al Jazeera reported that a fire on a ferry sailing between Bali and Lombok killed one person and left five missing last month. In July, a ferry carrying more than 70 people sank near Selayar Island, south of Sulawesi, Al Jazeera reported.