Ferry capsizes in the Java Sea: 129 missing, 655 rescuers deployed

This is a story that the morning edition did not cover, and one that adds to — without being confused with — the Philippine shipwreck we reported on at 6:30: here we are in the Java Sea, in Indonesia, and the ferry did not burn, it capsized.

The Virgo Transport 8 was sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin when it capsized in the waters off Masalembo, about 148 kilometers from Banjarmasin, on Sunday, September 13. The ship’s manifest listed 243 people: 213 passengers and 30 crew members, along with 89 vehicles.

Monday’s toll

As of Monday, September 14, according to Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency, six bodies have been recovered, 108 people have been rescued, and 129 remain missing. These are figures from an ongoing operation: in events of this kind the count shifts as the search progresses, and the one published here is the most recent verifiable at the time we go to press.

The deployment mounted for the second day gives a sense of the area to be covered: 17 ships and aircraft and about 655 rescuers, with diving teams and thermal-sensor-equipped drones deployed by the navy.

Sea conditions

The reconstruction of events, for now, is limited to two elements communicated by the authorities. The captain had raised an alarm reporting that the ship was listing, with waves reaching three meters; contact was lost around two in the morning on Sunday.

The head of the local search and rescue office in Banjarmasin, I Putu Sudayana, described the conditions in the area as follows:

“It is extremely risky for vessels.” (transl. from English) — I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin search and rescue office

Causes: no conclusion

Indonesia’s Directorate General of Sea Transportation stated that it is still working to determine whether the capsizing was caused by natural, technical, or human factors. This is a formulation that keeps all three hypotheses open, and as long as it remains open this newspaper does not favor any of them: our charter in any case suspends coverage of investigations and individual responsibility, and here we stick to the material facts and official communications.

The load of 89 vehicles is a relevant factor for the stability of a mixed ferry, but none of the available sources links it to the capsizing, and we do not do so either.

What we don’t know

We don’t know whether the number of people actually on board matches the manifest: in this type of event the difference between the declared list and actual presence emerges only at the end of the verification process, and the available sources do not address it. We don’t know how many of the 108 rescued people required medical care, nor where they were taken. It is not indicated how long the active search phase will last, nor what the exact area being searched is: the available geographic reference is the distance of about 148 kilometers from Banjarmasin.

The verification of the figures here rests on three independent sources, including data from the national search and rescue agency and a statement from Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation: this is the minimum condition we impose on ourselves before publishing a death toll.