From ABC News · ABC News · · 1m 20s
Ship with 241 aboard vanishes in the Java Sea
A ferry bound for Borneo hit bad weather, went silent at 2 a.m., and Indonesia is now racing to find it.
In brief
A ferry bound for Borneo hit bad weather, went silent at 2 a.m., and Indonesia is now racing to find it. The Virgo Transport 8 lost contact about 92 miles from Banjarmasin with 241 people listed aboard, and the search is still open with no casualties reported yet. Originally reported by ABC News.
Contact lost at 2 a.m.
Indonesian authorities lost touch with the passenger ship Virgo Transport 8 early Sunday in the Java Sea. The rescue office in Banjarmasin only heard about it two hours later.
Surabaya to Borneo
The ship left Surabaya, East Java's biggest city, at 10:13 a.m. Saturday, headed across the sea to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan on Borneo island.
Bad weather came first
The operator, PT Virgo Yoel Rihi, said it alerted authorities after learning the vessel had run into rough conditions.
“The ship's operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather.”
92 miles from port
The last known position puts the ship roughly 148 kilometers, or 92 miles, from a pier in Banjarmasin. That is where a rescue vessel is heading.
241 names on the manifest
The manifest lists 241 passengers, plus crew. There have been no reports of casualties so far.
Everything they have
Search chief I Putu Sudayana said the agency is mobilizing all available personnel and assets because of the sheer number of people aboard, while watching the weather closely.
The bottom line
The Virgo Transport 8 lost contact about 92 miles from Banjarmasin with 241 people listed aboard, and the search is still open with no casualties reported yet.
