Antara News·Indonesia·Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 04:08 PM UTC

Basarnas awaits Virgo wreckage salvage to search for remaining victims

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Firman, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Head of the Banjarmasin Class A Search and Rescue Office I Putu Sudayana said his team is waiting for the wreck of the Virgo Transport 8 ferry to be recovered to search for the remains of victims trapped inside the capsized and sunken vessel.

"Diving efforts have been suspended, we are still waiting for the ship to be recovered," he said at Bhayangkara Hospital in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Tuesday.

According to him, the salvage operation, or the recovery of the wreck of the sunken ship in the Java Sea, is the responsibility of the agent or ship owner, in this case PT Virgo Karya Shipping.

Therefore, Sudayana hopes the ship owner will promptly carry out the salvage operation, as previously stated by PT Virgo Karya Shipping spokesperson Simson Rihi.

Regarding the ongoing surface search operation, he informed that the results have been zero for the past three days.

In fact, the search area continues to expand, including the waters of South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan.

"We have mobilized all our SAR resources to search for the possibility of finding new bodies of victims carried by the ocean currents to the shore," he said.

To date, 190 people have been found following the sinking of the Virgo Transport 8 ferry in the Java Sea on September 13, 2026, including 108 survivors and 82 fatalities.

Meanwhile, the search continues for 53 people still missing from the 243 passengers and crew aboard the vessel.

On October 3, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) suspended diving operations for the search and rescue victims of Virgo Transport 8.

The decision to suspend the operation was made due to the deteriorating condition of the victims, making continued underwater operations ineffective under the current conditions.

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