A search operation has been launched in Indonesia for a passenger vessel carrying 240 people that has disappeared. Rescue teams initiated the search mission on Sunday, September 13, after the Virgo Transport 8 lost communication in the Java Sea while travelling from East Java to South Kalimantan on Borneo island.
Ship lost contact near Banjarmasin
The Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province, reported that the vessel had suffered a communications breakdown while travelling to the city from Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city in East Java province. Preliminary details suggested the ship's final known location was in the Java Sea, approximately 148 kilometres (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin.
The vessel's manifest indicated it was transporting 241 passengers. No immediate casualty reports have emerged.
Rescue crews deployed
Arianto Ardi, operations chief at Banjarmasin's rescue agency, confirmed contact had been lost with the ship and stated that rescue crews had been deployed to the region. "We have established an operations post at Trisakti," Arianto said.
Officials revealed the ship's operator alerted authorities after receiving word that the craft had encountered severe weather conditions.
Recent earthquake in Java
The incident follows shortly after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Java, Indonesia. The tremor occurred at a depth of 143 km (89 miles) and posed no tsunami threat, according to Indonesia's geophysics agency. "Taking into account the location of the epicentre and the depth of its hypocentre, the earthquake was a deep earthquake caused by intraslab activity," he said in a statement, adding that tsunami modelling showed no tsunami threat.
