Indonesia searches for 129 people missing after ferry capsizes

Indonesian authorities have intensified efforts to find dozens of people missing a day after the Virgo Transport 8 ferry overturned in the Java Sea

BANJARMASIN, Indonesia -- Indonesian authorities intensified on Monday a search for dozens of people missing after a ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea previous day.

The Virgo Transport 8 was carrying more than 240 people when its captain issued a distress call, saying the ship was listing in rough seas with waves of up to three meters (10 feet), while traveling from Surabaya in East Java province to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, on Borneo Island.

Contact was lost with the ferry at about 2 a.m. Sunday, and about two hours later authorities received infomration that the vessel had overturned in the Java Sea’s Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from Banjarmasin.

Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency on Sunday showed an overturned ferry floating in choppy waters during a helicopter search operation.

On Monday, 17 ships and aircraft were deployed for the search carrying about 622 personnel deployed from the military, police and other agencies, said Mohammad Syafii, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief.

He said authorities were also deploying specialized underwater teams and navy-operated underwater drones to strengthen search efforts and speed up the evacuation of victims.

“We remain hopeful of finding more survivors," Syafii told a video briefing.

Search teams, assisted by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels, rescued 108 people and recovered six bodies on Sunday.

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. The vessel was also transporting 89 vehicles.

Distraught relatives gathered at a command center in Banjarmasin’s Trisakti port and also at a port in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, awaiting word on family members believed to be aboard the ferry and still unaccounted for.

The 119-meter (390-foot) Virgo Transport 8 ferry was built in Japan in 1987 and operated there until last year, when it was sold to Indonesia.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, in part due to weak enforcement of safety standards.