A ferry goes quiet

The Virgo Transport 8 was sailing north from Java to Borneo with 243 passengers and crew when contact broke off in bad weather on Sunday.

Saturday departure, Sunday silence

The passenger and cargo ship left Surabaya in East Java on Saturday, ran into a storm, then stopped answering its shipping company early the next morning.

90 miles from the pier

The last detected position put the vessel in the Java Sea, roughly 150 kilometres short of its destination at Banjarmasin pier.

Rescue ship sent out

Banjarmasin SAR chief I Putu Sudayana said personnel and the vessel KN SAR Laksmana 241 were deployed straight to the estimated last known position.

“We have received the report regarding the loss of contact with the Virgo Transport 8 vessel and have immediately deployed personnel”

Navy, police, company

The search began Sunday morning with the navy, police and the Virgo shipping line working together. Officials cited the passenger count as the reason for the scale.

“Considering the relatively large number of passengers and crew on board, we are optimising coordination with all relevant elements”

Why this keeps happening

Indonesia spans more than 17,000 islands and leans on boats for daily transport. Lax safety standards and unpredictable weather drive most of the disasters.

Journalists missing too

A speedboat carrying eight people, five of them reporters, vanished near Mount Anak Krakatau in Banten. They had gone to cover an eruption that shut Jakarta's main airport.

A pattern, not a one-off

In August a ferry fire in the Lombok Strait killed one and left five missing with 211 rescued. In July a boat carrying over 70 sank near Selayar, south of Sulawesi.