September 20, 2026 | 07:49 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A joint SAR team has resumed operations to locate victims of the capsized Virgo Transport 8 ferry. Six divers from the National Search and Rescue Agency or Basarnas Special Group (BSG) were deployed into the ship's wreckage on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
Basarnas Chief M. Syafii stated that the underwater search is concentrating on recovering victims believed to be trapped inside the vessel. Meanwhile, the rescue ship KN SAR Kamajaya is carrying out a surface sweep and will anchor near the site to assist diving operations.
"We have deployed six BSG personnel to search the interior of the ship. Our focus is to find the victims," Syafii said in a written statement on Sunday.
Syafii assured that rescue crews will exhaust all efforts in their search for the missing. However, he stressed that diver safety remains a priority throughout the mission. Search operations remain underway, involving various maritime assets and dive units stationed around the wreck of the Virgo Transport 8.
As widely reported, Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 passengers and crew when it departed Surabaya, East Java, for Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 12, 2026. The vessel reportedly encountered severe weather and lost radio contact at around 2:00 a.m. Central Indonesian Time (WITA) on September 13, 2026, before being spotted capsized later that day in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea.
Read: Fact Check: Are These Photos of the Virgo Transport 8 Sinking Real?
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