The KM Virgo Transport 8 departed from Surabaya on Saturday with 243 people on board: 213 passengers and 30 crew members. Its destination was Banjarmasin, on the island of Borneo. It never arrived.
Early Sunday it lost contact in the middle of the Java Sea. Hours later, the Basarnas rescue agency confirmed what families feared: the ferry had sunk. On Monday, it was located about 148 kilometers from Trisakti port, partially submerged, with the deck underwater and only the hull visible above the surface.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the vessel was not overloaded and was carrying fewer people than the 500 allowed by its maximum capacity. The operator reported bad weather in the area as the cause of the sinking. So far, 108 people have been rescued alive and 6 have died. Another 129 remain missing as five aircraft and several ships search the Java Sea for survivors.