One dead as ship stricken near Java

One person was killed and more than 100 were rescued yesterday after a ferry sailing between the Indonesian islands of Java and Borneo was hit by bad weather, rescue officials said.

The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 passengers and crew, had lost contact with its shipping company early yesterday after departing from Surabaya in East Java.

“We can inform you that the total number of evacuated passengers is 103 people,” local search and rescue chief I Putu Sudayana said.

Relatives of affected passengers look on as an Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) officer writes updates on a whiteboard in Banjarmasin yesterday.

Photo: AFP

One of the passengers had died, he told reporters in the port city of Banjarmasin, where the vessel was headed.

Rescuers battled waves of up to 2.5m to reach the ferry, he added.

“It is extremely risky for vessels. Even our Basarnas [Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency] vessel, which is 40 meters long, is at great risk,” he said.

Sudayana earlier said that the ship’s captain had reported that the vessel was “tilting” before losing contact.

The vessel’s last position had been detected in the Java Sea, about 150km from its destination.