Jakarta, September 13, 2026: Six people have died and 130 others remained missing after an Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea, while 107 people were rescued, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Sunday.
The vessel, Virgo Transport 8, was carrying 213 passengers and 30 crew members when it lost contact with authorities early Sunday amid bad weather, according to the agency.
The ship had departed on Saturday from the East Java city of Surabaya for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.
The search and rescue agency later said rescuers had found 107 people safe, while six others had died and 130 remained missing.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the agency’s Banjarmasin office, said in a video statement that the survivors had been evacuated using several vessels, with some expected to be transported to a port in East Java.
Rescuers launched a major search operation, deploying personnel, ships and a helicopter to the vessel’s last known location.
Indonesia, an archipelago of around 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries and other sea transport, which are generally more affordable and accessible than air travel.
However, safety regulations are not always strictly enforced, contributing to a relatively high rate of maritime accidents in the country
