Search resumes after ferry sinking in Indonesia, 129 people still missing

Searches resumed Monday morning to try to save 129 people missing after the capsize of a ferry linking the Indonesian islands of Java and Borneo, which left at least six dead, emergency services announced.

Virgo Transport 8 carried 213 passengers and 30 crew members. He set sail on Saturday from Surabaya, in the east of the island of Java, to reach Banjarmasin, on the island of Borneo. Contact was lost early Sunday morning. The head of the national search and rescue agency, Mohammad Syafii, confirmed the deaths of six people on Monday, adding that 129 others were missing and 108 had been rescued.

Five aircraft and 17 ships, including warships, were deployed to participate in the search, he added. “We will intensify search operations in six areas that we have demarcated, giving priority to the search for victims floating on the surface,” Mr. Syafii said. Divers and underwater drones will also be deployed to search for victims in and around the wreckage, which rescuers have located, he added.

The ferry which sank in rough seas, with waves more than 2.5 meters high, was not overloaded and was carrying fewer passengers than its maximum capacity of 500 people, Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said at a press conference on Monday.

Accidents at sea are frequent in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands particularly dependent on maritime connections, due in particular to insufficient safety standards and unpredictable weather conditions.

Last Monday, contact was lost with a speedboat carrying eight people near the Anak Krakatau volcano, west of the island of Java. Searches continue to try to find the eight people on board, including five journalists.