Indonesian rescuers searching for 129 missing people after ship capsized

Indonesian rescue teams are combing the Java Sea for 129 people still unaccounted for after a passenger vessel capsized in bad weather over the weekend. As of Monday morning, the death toll remained at six, according to an official. The incident involved the Virgo Transport 8, a ship carrying 243 passengers and crew, which went missing early Sunday.

Sixty-eight people have been rescued thus far from the capsized ship, which was en route from Surabaya, East Java, to Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. The rescue operation has mobilized 622 personnel and around 12 ships, with search efforts ongoing since early Monday. The rescue agency head, I Putu Sudayana, detailed the ongoing operation in a Reuters interview, noting that the death toll has not risen as of Monday morning.

Visuals from the scene show the red-and-black vessel lying partially submerged in turbulent water, with a small red-painted portion visible above the surface. Two smaller boats, each loaded with survivors, were spotted floating nearby. Earlier on Sunday, another rescue agency official, Edy Prakoso, reported that the ship had rolled sharply to one side following the impact of powerful waves, particularly on its starboard side.

The vessel's captain alerted authorities via a passing helicopter, triggering the emergency response. Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi confirmed the capsizing based on helicopter reports, with the cause of the incident under investigation. Ferry travel is a common mode of transportation across Indonesia's 17,000 islands, where air travel is often less accessible, and accidents in this sector have been frequent.

Last month alone, two ferries carrying hundreds of passengers caught fire in Indonesian waters, resulting in five and one fatalities respectively. One person died in a fire aboard a ferry traveling from the popular tourist island of Bali.