Six dead and 136 missing after Indonesian ferry capsizes in Java Sea

Six people have died and 136 remain missing after the Indonesian passenger ferry KM Virgo Transport 8 capsized in the Java Sea in the early hours of Sunday, 13 September 2026.

A total of 107 people had been rescued as of Sunday evening, according to figures released jointly by Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi and the head of the national search and rescue agency Basarnas, Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii.

The two officials gave the update at a press conference at the incident command post at Trisakti Port terminal in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. Both stressed that the casualty figures remained provisional while verification continued.

Earlier tallies during the day had varied considerably as rescue vessels completed their headcounts. Basarnas initially recorded one death among 86 evacuees before the toll was revised upward.

The vessel and its route

KM Virgo Transport 8 is a roll-on/roll-off passenger ship of 8,540 gross tonnes, operated by PT Virgo Karya Shipping and commanded by Captain Arief Yunianto.

The ship left Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, on Saturday, 12 September 2026, bound for Banjarmasin. It carried 213 passengers and 30 crew members, along with dozens of vehicles.

Indonesian port reporting indicates the vessel was scheduled to arrive in Banjarmasin on Sunday afternoon. It is a second-hand vessel of Japanese origin, reported to be 39 years old.

Contact was lost at around 02:00 local time on Sunday, in waters near Masalembo in the Java Sea. The last recorded position was roughly 80 nautical miles, or about 150km, from the SAR jetty at Basirih, Banjarmasin.

The ship's agent reported the incident to the Banjarmasin search and rescue office at 04:10 local time.

How the search unfolded

I Putu Sudayana, head of the Class A Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin and the designated SAR mission coordinator, said the office was told the vessel had lost contact after reporting bad weather.

A six-member rescue team was despatched by road to the Basirih jetty at 04:30, before continuing to the estimated last known position aboard the rescue vessel KN SAR Laksmana 241. The transit was estimated at around five hours.

Basarnas subsequently deployed 15 sea and air assets to the search area, comprising 11 ships, one helicopter and three fixed-wing aircraft. A joint task force drew in the navy, maritime police and other agencies, with some 280 personnel involved.

Vessels already in the area carried out much of the initial rescue work. The tanker MT Mauhau, operated by PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, was sailing from Banjarmasin to Tuban when its crew picked up news of the sinking over VHF radio.

Pertamina said 16 people were brought aboard MT Mauhau, including the master of the stricken ferry. The company said its crew acted immediately on receiving the report and treated the preservation of life as the priority.

Other vessels involved included MV Haida, which recovered 69 people alive, KM Cahaya Bahari, which took on 22 survivors, and the tug TB TCP.

Accounts from survivors and families

One survivor, Ahmad, described holding on to a window post as the vessel listed progressively before he climbed upward and waited for it to go down. He said he later escaped on an inflatable craft and waited in darkness with other passengers until help arrived.

Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii said that, according to the captain's account, the ship was struck by waves on the starboard side, causing it to list and then capsize. Crew reported the deteriorating weather to the company before the vessel's centre of gravity shifted.

At Trisakti Port, relatives waited through Sunday for news. Rusmilawati, a Banjarmasin resident, travelled to the port seeking information about eight relatives who had been returning home after visiting the tombs of Islamic scholars in Java.

She said they had flown out but wanted to make the return journey by sea. By Sunday afternoon she had received no word on whether any had been rescued.

The family's last contact was a message in which one relative described the waves as frightening and wondered whether such rocking was normal at sea. Rusmilawati said she hoped they were safe.

Elsewhere at the port, Misnah wept on learning that her husband, Ahmad Supandi, a freight driver, had been rescued by MV Haida.

At Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, Fredy said he had heard nothing from his youngest sibling, Stevie Manuhua, who worked aboard the ferry as a keyboard player entertaining passengers. The two had last spoken two days earlier while the ship was docked.

Response on shore

PT Pelabuhan Indonesia Regional 3 Kalimantan established a search post and a medical room at Trisakti Port to support the evacuation. Pelindo also opened a 24-hour post at the Gapura Surya Nusantara terminal in Surabaya.

RSUD Ulin in Banjarmasin placed 13 surgeons and a forensic team on standby to receive casualties brought in from the Masalembo waters. Survivors were also taken to Bhayangkara Hospital.

Banjarmasin Mayor Muhammad Yamin HR said the city government was prepared to handle passengers and crew from the vessel. Around 30 volunteer ambulances were placed on standby in the city.

Dudy Purwagandhi said the ship had held a sailing permit issued by the Tanjung Perak port authority, granted when weather conditions were assessed as suitable. He said search operations would run around the clock.

The cause of the capsizing remains under investigation.

Wider context

Indonesia's archipelago comprises more than 17,000 islands, and ferries are a routine form of intercity transport. Maritime accidents are frequent: government data record 111 ship accidents between 2020 and 2026.

In July, KM Nurul Salsa sank in waters west of Polassi Island in the Selayar Islands Regency, South Sulawesi. Fifty-eight people survived and three were confirmed dead, with 14 unaccounted for.

In August, a separate ferry caught fire off Madura island, killing five people.

Members of Commission V of the House of Representatives, which oversees transport, have called on the Transport Ministry to intervene more decisively on maritime safety following the latest incident.