High Waves Reaching 2.5 Metres Obstruct Evacuation of Virgo Ship Passengers

The Head of the Banjarmasin Class A Search and Rescue Office, I Putting Sudayana, stated that authorities are continuing the search for passengers of the Virgo Transport 8 vessel that lost contact in the Java Sea. He noted that wave heights reached 2.5 metres during the rescue process.

“We are also providing an update regarding the conditions on the ground. We received a direct report from the Captain of the KN SAR Laksmana that wave heights at the incident location are between 2 and 2.5 metres,” said Putu during a live-streamed press conference on Sunday (13/09/2026).

He mentioned that these rescue efforts also pose a significant risk to the SAR teams. Nevertheless, Basarnas is deploying larger vessels to anticipate the high sea waves.

“It is extremely risky for vessels like our Basarnas ships, which are 40 metres in size; it is very precarious. Therefore, we will prioritise larger vessels for the search efforts in the field,” he added.

Putu reported that 103 people have been evacuated, with one fatality confirmed. His office intends to carry out the search for the remaining passengers with maximum effort.

“As of 12:00 (WITA), our search efforts for the victims have been carried out to the fullest extent. Some passengers had been successfully evacuated by 12:00. We can inform you that the number of evacuated ship passengers is 103,” said Putu.

He stated that the evacuated passengers were transported via several ships. He noted that one vessel, the TB Mauhaw IX (or MT Mauhau), carried 16 passengers from the Virgo Transport 8, with 15 survivors and one fatality.

“One person has died,” he added.