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At least 1 person died, and 103 others were rescued Sunday after an Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people lost contact in the Java Sea amid bad weather, with rescuers continuing to search for the remaining 140 people still unaccounted for, according to search and rescue officials.
The Virgo Transport 8 departed Surabaya, in East Java, on Saturday at 10:13 a.m. local time, bound for Banjarmasin, in South Kalimantan on Borneo island, before losing contact with its operator at around 2 a.m. Sunday.
The ship's manifest listed 243 people on board, including 30 crew members.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the Class A Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, said his office received the emergency report two hours after contact was lost, prompting the immediate dispatch of a joint search and rescue team to Banjarmasin's Basirih Search and Rescue pier, along with a rescue vessel sent toward the ship's last known position.
"The latest information received indicates that the ship is facing bad weather in the waters of the Java Sea, approximately 80 nautical miles from the Basirih SAR Dock, Banjarmasin," Sudayana said in a statement.
Sudayana said rescuers battled waves of up to 2.5 meters to reach the vessel.
"It is extremely risky for vessels. Even our Basarnas vessel, which is 40 meters long, is at great risk," he said, referring to Indonesia's national Search and Rescue Agency.
He earlier told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the ship's captain had reported the vessel was "tilting" before contact was lost.
The vessel's last known position was detected in the Java Sea, roughly 148 kilometers from its destination. The ship's operator, PT Virgo Yoel Rihi, reported the loss of contact to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather, according to Sudayana.
Sudayana said 103 people were evacuated using different vessels, with some taken to a port in East Java.
One of those rescued died, he said, without providing further details on the cause of death or other circumstances.
Rescuers deployed a team, ships and a helicopter toward the vessel's last known position as the search for the remaining 140 people continued, with Sudayana saying authorities were mobilizing all available personnel and assets given the large number of passengers and crew involved.
He said the search and rescue agency was coordinating with maritime authorities and other relevant agencies while closely monitoring weather conditions in the area.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries for transportation between islands, with sea routes often more affordable and readily available than air travel. However, safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, resulting in a relatively high accident rate.
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