Basarnas affirms KM Virgo SAR operation follows international standards
Banjarmasin (ANTARA) - Basarnas has affirmed that all search and rescue (SAR) operations for the KM Virgo Transport 8 accident in the Java Sea have been carried out in accordance with international regulations and legally accountable standards, particularly in determining search patterns and sectors for victims.
“The operations we are conducting refer to the provisions issued internationally. The search pattern is never the same each day because the team adjusts operations according to various field factors,” said the Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii, at a press conference on the third day of SAR operations for KM Virgo Transport 8 at Trisakti Port, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Tuesday (15/9) evening.
He explained that on the first day, search operations were conducted in eight sectors based on predetermined coordinates, while the second and third days each covered six sectors, with locations shifting according to calculations and evolving field conditions.
According to Syafii, sector changes were necessary because currents can affect the datum, or the reference point of the search, so the SAR team adjusted the sweep areas to improve the chances of finding victims who may have been carried away by currents from the initial accident location.
Nevertheless, the SAR team continued to search around the wreck because there is a possibility that victims exited the hull after earlier operations, so the area around the wreck remains an important part of the search strategy.
“So, I can confirm the operation will never be the same, especially since we are already using an application,” he said.
Syafii stressed that every decision in the SAR operation has a technical and legal basis, including plans to turn the vessel over or to lift the wreck of KM Virgo Transport 8, which will not be carried out carelessly without the necessary considerations.
“This does not mean we are trying to follow every piece of information or suggestion. What we do is always based on legal foundations that can be accounted for under the law,” he said.
The Head of Basarnas also urged the public and victims’ families to obtain information on operational developments directly from Basarnas. The agency also requested prayers of support so that weather conditions and the situation on the ground allow all victim search efforts to proceed well.
As of Tuesday (15/9) at 22.00 Central Indonesia Time, Mohammad Syafii confirmed that 114 victims of the KM Virgo Transport 8 maritime accident had been found, all of whom had successfully arrived in Banjarmasin.
They consist of 108 survivors and six deceased. An estimated 129 victims remain missing.
KM Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 people and was reported to have lost contact in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea in the early hours of Sunday (13/9) at around 02.00 Central Indonesia Time, whilst sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, having departed on Saturday (12/9).