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Indonesian passenger ship overturns, sparking search for about 130 missing
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The rescue agency in Banjarmasin said it received a report two hours after contact was lost with the Virgo Transport 8 at about 2 a.m. Sunday.
The ship's manifest said it was carrying 243 people — 213 passengers and 30 crew members — although it is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers to differ from the manifest.
Many anxiously checked passenger manifests and rescue lists as authorities continued searching for survivors.
"I was shocked when I saw my uncle's name on the passenger list," said a woman who goes by a single name, Bunga. "But I felt relieved after officials told me he had been rescued."
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.
Sunday's accident comes just four days after a fire that gutted a passenger ferry in the Philippines killed at least 76 people, with at least 10 others still missing.
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Indonesian passenger ship overturns, sparking search for about 130 missing Indonesian rescuers said about 130 passengers and crew are missing after a ferry carrying more than 240 people sank in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Indonesian passenger ship overturns, sparking search for at least 129 missing Indonesian rescuers said about 130 passengers and crew are missing after a ferry carrying more than 240 people sank in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday.
− World Indonesian passenger ship overturns, sparking search for about 130 missing September 13, 20266:31 AM ET By
The Associated Press
People look for the names of their family members on a passenger list after a ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea, at the rescuers command center in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sunday, Sept.
+ World Indonesian passenger ship overturns, sparking search for at least 129 missing Updated September 13, 202611:47 AM ET Originally published September 13, 20266:31 AM ET By
The Associated Press
People look for the names of their family members on a passenger list after a ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea, at the rescuers command center in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sunday, Sept.
− Iman Satria/AP hide caption
BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — Indonesian rescuers say about 130 passengers and crew are missing after a ferry carrying more than 240 people sank in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday. At least 107 people were rescued and the bodies of six passengers were recovered as the search operation expanded in waters around the vessel's last known position.
+ Iman Satria/AP hide caption
BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — The search is continuing for at least 129 people missing after a ferry overturned in bad weather in Indonesia 's Java Sea on Sunday.
− The ferry was traveling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, officials said.
+ At least 108 people were rescued and the bodies of six passengers were recovered as the search operation expanded around the vessel's last known position.
− The vessel's captain had earlier reported rough seas with waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) before issuing a distress message, saying the ship was listing, said I Putu Sudayana, who heads the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office.
+ The ferry, with more than 240 people on board, was traveling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, on Borneo Island, officials said.
The captain had reported rough seas with waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) before issuing a distress call, saying the ship was listing, said I Putu Sudayana, who heads the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office.
− Authorities later received information indicating the vessel had overturned and then sunk.
+ Authorities later received information indicating the vessel had overturned.
− The ship had departed from Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, en route to Banjarmasin, a city on Borneo Island.
− "The ship's operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather," Sudayana said in a video briefing.
+ A rescue ship was headed to the vessel's last known position, the agency said, and by Sunday afternoon authorities were deploying teams supported by a dozen vessels, including four navy ships, and two helicopters.
− In response, a rescue ship was headed to the Virgo Transport 8's estimated last known position, he said, and authorities were deploying rescue teams supported by four vessels, including a navy ship, and a helicopter as the ferry was carrying a large number of passengers and crew.
Initial information indicated the vessel's last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin.
+ In this aerial image taken from video released by Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), the bottom of passenger ferry Virgo Transport 8 is seen above the water after it overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea, Sunday, Sept.
+ 13, 2026. BASARNAS/AP hide caption
Initial information indicated the vessel's last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from Banjarmasin.
+ The vessel was also transporting 89 vehicles.
− Sudayana, who is coordinating the search, said the agency was working with maritime authorities and other relevant agencies while closely monitoring weather conditions in the area.
+ Sudayana, who is coordinating the search, said search teams, assisted by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels, had rescued 107 people and recovered six bodies by Sunday afternoon.
− Search teams, assisted by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels, had rescued 107 people and recovered six bodies by Sunday afternoon, he said.
+ The 119-meter (390-foot) Virgo Transport 8 ferry was built in Japan in 1987 and operated there until last year before being sold to the current Indonesian operator, PT Virgo Karya Shipping.
− The Japanese-built Virgo Transport 8 is designed to transport both passengers and vehicles.
+ Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said aerial searches showed the ferry was floating upside down and had not sunk. Rescuers were concentrating search efforts around the overturned ferry, he told reporters Sunday.
− Hundreds of relatives gathered at a command center in Banjarmasin's Trisakti port on Sunday, awaiting word on family members believed to be aboard the ferry.
+ Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency on Sunday showed an overturned ferry floating in choppy waters during a helicopter search operation.
+ Separate footage captured exhausted survivors disembarking from a rescue ship at a port in Banjarmasin, while injured victims were carried on stretchers before being taken by ambulances to nearby hospitals.
In this photo taken with a smartphone, survivors receive medical treatment after a ferry sank in bad weather in the Java Sea, at a port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. Iman Satria/AP hide caption
Hundreds of relatives gathered at a command center in Banjarmasin's Trisakti port, awaiting word on family members believed to be aboard the ferry.
− Last month, at least 211 people were rescued from an Indonesian ferry that caught fire in rough seas near the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, while one person was found dead and four others remain missing.
+ At least 211 people were rescued from an Indonesian ferry that caught fire last month in rough seas near the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, while one person was found dead and four others remained missing.
− The incident happened less than two weeks after another Indonesian ferry, the Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire in waters off the main island of Java, leaving at least five people dead.
+ The incident happened less than two weeks after another Indonesian ferry, the Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire off the main island of Java, with the loss of at least five people.