BANJARMASIN — Indonesian authorities have intensified the search for 129 people still missing after the Virgo Transport 8 ferry overturned in the Java Sea. The Associated Press reported that 17 ships and aircraft from the military, police and other agencies joined the operation Monday, with the rescue effort expanded to 655 personnel.

Six bodies had been recovered and 108 people rescued, according to National Search and Rescue Agency chief Mohammad Syafii. Specialised underwater teams and navy-operated thermal drones were deployed to support the search and speed the evacuation of victims. Syafii said rescuers remained hopeful of finding more survivors.

The ferry was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when its captain reported that it was listing in rough seas. Waves reached up to three metres, AP reported. Contact was lost at about 2 a.m. Sunday, and authorities later learned that the ship had overturned in the Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometres from Banjarmasin.

The manifest listed 243 people: 213 passengers and 30 crew. That figure remains provisional because passenger numbers on Indonesian ferries can differ from manifests. AP also reported that the 119-metre vessel, built in Japan in 1987, was carrying 89 vehicles. Authorities have not yet determined why it capsized.

The accident is unfolding against a wider regional safety concern. Indonesia’s island geography makes ferries a core part of domestic transport, but crowded vessels, difficult weather and uneven enforcement can turn a routine crossing into a mass-casualty emergency. The defensible account will change as the manifest is reconciled and the recovery operation establishes who is missing, who survived and what caused the vessel to overturn.

*Reporting note: this article is based on the source record listed above and is current as of 14 September 2026, 14:00 BST. Figures, operational claims and casualty counts may change as authorities update their accounts.*