Indonesian Ferry Capsizes in Java Sea, 6 Dead, 129 Remain Missing

Indonesian rescuers battled turbulent seas Monday in search of 129 people still missing after the passenger ship Virgo Transport 8 capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend.

The confirmed death toll stands at six. The ship, carrying 243 people, went missing in bad weather early Sunday while traveling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. Authorities have rescued 108 people. The capsized vessel is around 80 nautical miles (nearly 150 km) from the command center at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin.

Mohammad Syafii, head of the national rescue agency, stated that choppy waters with high waves and strong winds were impeding the search on Monday. The agency deployed at least 622 personnel, 17 ships, five helicopters, and aircraft. Rescuers found it difficult to make their way into the capsized and partially submerged ship. Underwater rescue skills personnel would be deployed once weather conditions improve.

The captain issued a distress call around 2 a.m. Sunday, reporting the ship was listing in rough seas with waves up to 3 meters (10 feet). Contact was lost, and about two hours later, authorities received information that the vessel had overturned in the Java Sea's Masalembo waters. The 119-meter roll-on/roll-off ferry was built in Japan in 1987 and sold to Indonesia last year.

Officials stated the ferry was not overloaded, carrying fewer than its maximum capacity of 500 people. Some survivors reported passengers rushed to the upper deck and scrambled for life jackets as the ferry began to list. The cause of the capsizing, whether weather-related, technical failure, or human error, remains under investigation. None of the 129 missing people have been found as of Monday afternoon.