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Indonesian authorities have resumed search operations for 129 people missing after a ferry sank while travelling between the islands of Java and Borneo. At least six people have died in the accident.
According to the Lusa news agency, the Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 213 passengers and 30 crew members and had departed from Surabaya, in Java, on Saturday, bound for Banjarmasin, in Borneo.
The vessel lost contact during the early hours of Sunday.
The head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, Mohammad Syafii, confirmed a toll of six dead, 129 missing and 108 survivors.
Five aircraft and 17 vessels, including navy units, have been deployed as part of the rescue operation.
Search teams are working across six designated sectors, with priority being given to locating people who may still be on the surface.
Divers and underwater drones are also expected to be used to search inside and around the vessel, which has already been located.
Indonesia’s Transport Minister, Dudy Purwagandhi, said the ferry was not overcrowded, as it was carrying fewer passengers than its maximum capacity of 500.
However, the vessel reportedly encountered rough seas, with waves exceeding 2.5 metres.
Maritime accidents are relatively common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that relies heavily on sea transport.
In 2018, more than 150 people died when a ferry sank in a lake on the island of Sumatra, in one of the country’s deadliest maritime accidents in recent years.
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