# 240 aboard, 140 still missing in the Java Sea

> A ferry from Surabaya lost contact in bad weather before dawn, and by Sunday only 103 of more than 240 people had been pulled out.
- Title: 240 aboard, 140 still missing in the Java Sea · the Guardian
- Summary: A ferry from Surabaya lost contact in bad weather before dawn, and by Sunday only 103 of more than 240 people had been pulled out. Indonesia moves millions…
- Keywords: indonesia, ferry disaster, java sea, maritime safety, search and rescue, news, world, 240, aboard, 140, still, missing
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/13/indonesian-rescue-crews-searching-for-140-people-after-ferry-hit-bad-weather
- Author: Reuters
- Published: 2026-09-13T05:10:38+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: indonesia, ferry disaster, java sea, maritime safety, search and rescue, news, world
## 140 people unaccounted for
Indonesian rescuers spent Sunday searching the Java Sea for 140 passengers from a missing ferry. Of the 103 already evacuated, one person died.
## A routine overnight crossing
The Virgo Transport 8 left Surabaya in East Java on Saturday, bound for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. It was carrying more than 240 people.
## Contact lost at 2am
The ship stopped responding at around 2am on Sunday. The rescue office in Banjarmasin only received a report of the incident two hours later.

> The ship's operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather
## Boats and a helicopter sent
A team, several ships and a helicopter were deployed to the ferry's last known position. Survivors were picked up by different vessels, some heading for an East Java port.
## Nobody has said what happened
I Putu Sudayana, who heads the Banjarmasin rescue office, confirmed the evacuations in a video statement but did not say what became of the ship itself.
## Why this keeps happening
With 17,000 islands, Indonesia leans on ferries because sea routes cost less and run more often than flights. Safety standards are patchily enforced, and accidents are common.
## Key takeaway

Indonesia moves millions of people by sea because it is cheap and available, and the safety rules that should come with that are not consistently enforced.