Helicopter on standby as search for capsized Virgo 8 continues

I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office, announced that a helicopter is positioned at Trisakti Port to support evacuations should additional victims be found. The maritime operation, now in its seventh day, is split into four sectors covering roughly 6,200 square nautical miles, with the helicopter assigned to one sector for rescue duties. Search crews discovered an empty liferaft near the wreck of KM Virgo Transport 8, bringing the total to nine liferafts recovered—six washed ashore in Seruyan, Central Kalimantan, and three near the capsized vessel in the Java Sea.

Basarnas reports 108 survivors, nine fatalities and 126 individuals still unaccounted for out of the 243 passengers who left Surabaya on September 12. The ferry lost contact early on September 13 after encountering severe weather and was later found capsized in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea.