Basarnas extends SAR operations for KM Virgo for seven days
Banjarmasin (ANTARA) - Basarnas has extended the search and rescue (SAR) operations for the 126 victims who remain missing following the accident involving the Motor Ship (KM) Virgo Transport 8, which occurred in the Masalembo waters, Java Sea, on Sunday (13/09). The extension will cover the next seven days.
Basarnas Operations Director, Rear Admiral TNI Yudhi Bramantyo Nur Sasongko, stated that the decision was made after coordinating with stakeholders supporting the SAR operation, as well as the salvage team coordinated by the ship’s owner.
“Today marks the seventh day. We have declared that we will extend this operation for the next seven days,” said Yudhi during a press conference regarding the progress of the seventh day of the KM Virgo Transport 8 accident, held at Trisakti Port, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Saturday night.
He explained that two salvage teams coordinated by the ship’s owner only arrived on Saturday and were still conducting meetings and discussions with relevant parties late into the night to determine the steps for the salvage operation.
“The salvage operation that will be carried out may take a long time, perhaps longer than we imagine. We cannot specify when, but it is clearly being discussed by the expert team from the ship owner’s side,” he added.
Basarnas is extending the SAR operation while awaiting the results of the salvage team’s discussions and the steps to be taken in handling the shipwreck, ensuring that search and rescue efforts can continue according to developments on the ground.
During the seventh day of the SAR operation, the joint team did not find any new victims in the search for the KMP Virgo Transport 8 accident.
As of the seventh day of the SAR operation, Saturday night at 21:00 WITA, Basarnas confirmed that 117 victims have been found, consisting of 108 survivors and nine fatalities, while 126 people remain missing out of the total 243 individuals listed on the KMP Virgo Transport 8 manifest.
KMP Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 people when it departed from Surabaya, East Java, bound for Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on 12 September 2026.
The vessel was reported to have encountered bad weather and lost contact on 13 September 2026 at approximately 02:00 WITA, before being discovered later that same day in a capsized condition in the Masalembo waters, Java Sea.