Six people have died and 107 others have been rescued after an Indonesian passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea, with 130 people still missing.
The Virgo Transport 8 was travelling from Surabaya to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when it encountered severe weather and lost contact with authorities. The vessel was last reported about 150km south of Banjarmasin at around 02:00 local time on Sunday.
There were 243 people aboard the ferry, including 213 passengers and 30 crew members. The 119-metre vessel had departed Surabaya at 10:33 on Saturday and was expected to arrive in Banjarmasin at 14:00 on Sunday.
Authorities received the first distress report at about 04:10, triggering a major search and rescue operation.
Ships and a helicopter have been sent to the area, while around 280 personnel from Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, navy, maritime police and other organisations are involved in the operation.
Authorities have also alerted other vessels travelling through the Java Sea and asked them to report any signs of survivors.
The disaster has left families desperately searching for information about their loved ones.
Rusmilawati, a resident of Banjarmasin, travelled to the port after learning that eight of her relatives had been aboard the ferry. The family members had travelled to Java to visit the graves of several Islamic scholars and had chosen to return by sea.
She said the family had last received information through a WhatsApp status posted by one of the relatives during the journey.
“The waves are really frightening tonight,” the relative wrote, questioning whether the rough conditions were normal for sea travel.
By Sunday afternoon, Rusmilawati said she had received no official information about whether her relatives had been rescued.
Elsewhere, there were emotional scenes when Misnah learned that her husband, Ahmad Supandi, had survived the disaster. Supandi, a freight driver, was rescued by another vessel, the MV Haida.
At Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, relatives of crew members also gathered for updates.
Fredy said his younger sibling, Stevie Manuhua, worked aboard the ferry as a keyboard player entertaining passengers. He said the family last spoke to Stevie when the vessel was docked in Surabaya two days earlier and had heard nothing since.
The incident highlights the risks associated with maritime travel in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are widely used for transportation.
Marine accidents remain a recurring problem. Government figures show that 111 ship accidents were recorded in Indonesia between 2020 and 2026.
In July, the KM Nurul Salsa sank near Polassi Island in South Sulawesi. Fifty-eight people survived, three died and another 14 remained missing.
Search teams are continuing efforts to locate those still unaccounted for from the latest disaster.
