Indonesian Divers Recover Three More Bodies From Capsized Ferry as Salvage Begins
Divers recovered three bodies from the sunken ferry Virgo Transport 8 on Friday, taking the confirmed death toll to nine, with 126 people still missing.
Indonesian rescue teams recovered three more bodies from a capsized ferry on Friday and readied equipment to salvage the wreck, officials said, raising the confirmed death toll from the disaster to nine while 126 people remain missing.
Divers entered the vessel through a window and brought out the bodies of two men and a woman. The remains will be taken to Banjarmasin, according to Col. Galih Nurna Putra, commander of the Banjarmasin Naval Base.
The Virgo Transport 8 was sailing from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when its captain sent a distress call on Sunday, reporting that the ship was listing in rough seas with waves reaching 3 meters (10 feet).
Contact with the ferry was lost around 2 a.m. Sunday, and about two hours later authorities learned it had overturned in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea, roughly 148 kilometers (92 miles) from Banjarmasin.
The manifest listed 213 passengers and 30 crew members, a total of 243 people, though passenger counts in Indonesia frequently differ from official records. The 119-meter (390-foot) ferry, built in Japan in 1987 and operated there until last year, was also carrying 89 vehicles.
Yudhi Bramantyo, operations director at Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, said 108 people had been rescued. In a video briefing, he said authorities had discussed the next steps and prepared all the equipment needed to begin salvage operations.
The overturned ferry drifted about 453 meters (1,486 feet) southeast of its original position and now rests at a depth of 29 meters (95 feet), compared with about 21 meters (69 feet) at the initial sinking site, Bramantyo said.
The wreck remains partially visible because of the relatively shallow water and clear conditions. No fuel leakage or signs of oil pollution have been detected around the vessel, he added.
After several days of poor weather, divers and members of the Indonesian navy's special forces unit reached the wreck on Thursday. Earlier attempts had been hampered by strong winds, high waves and currents that at times reached 12.6 kph (7.8 mph).
Divers installed guide ropes to support underwater operations and reported unusually clear visibility, allowing them to see the hull from stern to bow, Bramantyo said.
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common mode of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.
On Thursday, authorities ended an unsuccessful 10-day search for eight people, including five photojournalists, who disappeared while traveling by speedboat to Anak Krakatau volcano to report on its eruption.