Basarnas Ends KM Virgo Search Operation Despite 53 People Still Missing

Banjarmasin (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has officially ended its search and rescue (SAR) operation following the accident involving the motor vessel KM Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea. The operation ran for 53 days, although 53 of the 243 people listed on the vessel’s manifest remain missing.

I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Class A Search and Rescue Office and SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC), said the decision to end the operation followed a comprehensive assessment of search efforts, which had been carried out to the fullest extent alongside all joint SAR teams.

“The SAR operation for KM Virgo Transport 8 was closed today, Wednesday, 4 November 2026, and will be followed by monitoring by all parties,” I Putu said at a press conference in Banjarmasin on Wednesday.

By the final day of the operation, 190 people had been found: 108 survivors and 82 who had died. The other 53 remain missing, despite searches lasting more than seven weeks since the vessel’s accident on Sunday, 13 September 2026.

During the 53-day search, Basarnas deployed a joint force comprising the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police (Polri), the Ministry of Transportation, local governments, regional disaster management agencies (BPBD), health services, Jasa Raharja, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and other agencies and SAR resources to widen the search area and support the response.

The search used three main methods: aerial sweeps by helicopter and Boeing and Cessna aircraft; surface searches involving vessels from Basarnas, the Indonesian Navy, the Ministry of Transportation and private companies; and underwater searches by joint teams from Basarnas, the Navy and Polri.

I Putu said the 53-day evaluation found no further signs of victims that could be followed up through surface searches. Salvage work to raise the wreck still requires further steps and therefore cannot currently serve as a basis for continuing the SAR operation.

Although the operation has officially ended, Basarnas and other stakeholders will continue monitoring information about the possible discovery of victims, including any verifiable leads that could enable further searches.

“Basarnas is ready to reopen the SAR operation if signs of the victims’ whereabouts emerge in the future and the process of raising the vessel can proceed, following prior coordination with the TNI, Polri, local government, the Ministry of Transportation and all other relevant parties,” I Putu Sudayana said.