Indonesian rescue teams continued Sunday to search for 130 people who were aboard a passenger vessel that lost contact in the Java Sea, while 6 passengers were confirmed dead and 107 others were evacuated by several vessels. The Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency said contact with the Virgo Transport 8 was lost early Sunday due to bad weather, when it was 148 kilometers from Banjarmasin.
The vessel was carrying 243 people
The head of the Banjarmasin office of the Search and Rescue Agency, I Putu Sudayana, said various vessels had evacuated 107 people, some of whom were being taken to a port in East Java. He confirmed the deaths of 6 passengers. Rescue teams launched a wide-ranging search operation and sent a team, vessels and a helicopter to the vessel’s last known location to continue searching for the missing.
Indonesia, which has about 17,000 islands, relies on ferries as a primary means of transport between parts of the archipelago because sea routes are easily accessible and less expensive than air travel. The relatively high accident rate is linked in some cases to the lax enforcement of safety standards.
