Indonesian ferry carrying 243 people reported missing at sea
The ship set sail on Saturday from the East Java city of Surabaya to the South Kalimantan city of Banjarmasin before losing contact during bad weather.
An Indonesian passenger ship, Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 people was reported missing after losing contact in the Java Sea early Sunday during bad weather, according to the country's search and rescue agency. The ship departed from the East Java city of Surabaya for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan on Saturday before losing contact.
As of the statement, the ship remains uncontactable and its location is unknown, prompting a search operation by rescuers. Indonesia, a nation comprising 17,000 islands, heavily relies on ferries as a primary mode of transportation due to their affordability and accessibility compared to air travel. However, the safety standards on these ferries are often insufficient, leading to a relatively high accident rate.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
