Indonesia intensifies search for 129 people missing after Java Sea ferry disaster

The search for survivors in Indonesia intensified on Monday when 17 ships and aircraft from the military, police and other agencies were deployed to join the search for 129 missing people after a ferry overturned in the Java Sea on Sunday.

On Sunday 108 people and six bodies were rescued by search teams, which increased to 655 personnel on Monday, said national search and rescue gency chief Mohammad Syafii.

Authorities deployed specialised underwater teams and underwater thermal drones operated by the navy to strengthen the search effort and speed up the evacuation of victims, he said.

“We remain hopeful of finding more survivors,” Syafii said in a video briefing.

The Virgo Transport 8 was carrying more than 240 people when its captain issued a distress call on Sunday, saying the ship was listing in rough seas with waves of up to 3m while travelling from Surabaya in East Java province to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province on Borneo Island.

Contact was lost with the ferry at about 2am on Sunday, and about two hours later authorities learnt the vessel had overturned in the Java Sea’s Masalembo waters, about 148km from Banjarmasin.

Videos released by the search and rescue agency after a helicopter search operation on Sunday showed the overturned ferry floating in choppy waters.

The manifest said the ship carried 243 people including 213 passengers and 30 crew members, though it is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers to differ from the manifest. The 119m ferry, built in Japan in 1987, was also transporting 89 vehicles.

A survivor, Ahmad Saudi, said the ferry appeared overcrowded, with many passengers forced to sleep in hallways and common areas because the cabins were full.

Saudi, a bus driver travelling with a vehicle he was transporting, recalled how the ferry suddenly listed without warning, triggering panic among passengers as rough seas battered the vessel in the Java Sea.

Passengers initially tried to hold on before scrambling to the higher side of the ship as it tilted further, he said, speculating the ferry’s balance may have been affected by trucks loaded on one side.

“The women staying in the economy-class cabins likely didn’t survive because the ferry listed so quickly,” Saudi said. “There were no alarms or announcements warning passengers about what was happening. Many people in the cabins may not have had enough time to get out.”

Faisal, a survivor who goes by one name, said he and 14 other passengers clung to a section of the overturned ferry that remained above water after it capsized.

“After the ship listed, people panicked and rushed to the upper deck, but eventually the ferry rolled over completely,” he said, “and 14 of us were left stranded there.”