A passenger ship carrying 240 people reportedly went missing in Indonesia on Sunday. Contact with the vessel was lost in the Java Sea. Named ‘Virgo Transport 8’, the ship was traveling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin on the island of Borneo. Authorities have launched a search operation.

According to the Search and Rescue office in Banjarmasin, a communication failure occurred while the ship was en route, after which contact could not be re-established.

Rescue officials state that preliminary information places the ship’s last known location in the Java Sea, approximately 148 kilometers from the pier at Banjarmasin.

Rescue teams are searching the area for the vessel. So far, there have been no reports regarding casualties among those on board.

Previous Ship Accidents in Indonesia

Indonesia has witnessed several major ship sinking incidents in the past. In 1981, a passenger ship named ‘Tampomas-2’ sank in the Java Sea, resulting in the deaths of approximately 430 people.

In 2006, a passenger ferry named ‘Senopati Nusantara’ sank in the Java Sea during bad weather; more than 400 people were killed or went missing in the accident.

In 2007, the ferry ‘Levina-1’ sank after catching fire, claiming the lives of over 50 people.

In 2018, the ferry ‘Lestari Maju’ sank near South Sulawesi, resulting in 36 fatalities. Factors such as adverse weather, rough waves, overloading (carrying passengers beyond capacity), and failure to properly adhere to safety regulations have frequently been cited as causes for these accidents.