Survivor Recounts Moments Before Virgo Transport 8 Capsized

One of the survivors, Ahmad Saudi, recounted that the Virgo Transport 8 vessel suddenly tilted heavily to the left at approximately 01:20 WITA, without any alarm or prior warning, before eventually sinking. Ahmad stated that he was sleeping on a sofa when he heard a passenger running and shouting that the ship was tilting, prompting him to stand up and realise the vessel was indeed listing heavily before he attempted to save himself.

“I asked, ‘Why, sir?’, and was told the ship was tilting. I stood up and saw it was indeed tilting. I immediately ran downstairs,” said Ahmad when interviewed at the emergency health service centre for victims of the Virgo Transport 8 accident at Trisakti Port, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Sunday (13/9/2026) night.

While in the lower section of the ship, Ahmad clung to a pole near a window to steady himself as the vessel tilted further, following the ship’s movement until he managed to reach the upper deck before the ship sank further.

“I went to the window pole and held on as the ship tilted, tilted, and tilted. I kept holding on. After the tilting, I climbed up and waited for the ship to sink,” he said.

Ahmad subsequently rescued himself using a rubber dinghy after the ship sank further, and waited with other passengers in the darkness of the sea for help from arriving rescue vessels. He noted that there were 15 people in the rubber boat with him, all of whom were successfully evacuated to the rescue ship; the group consisted entirely of men, with no female passengers present.

“There were 15 people in the rubber boat. We survived and were able to board the rescue ship. Most were men; there were no women,” he said.

According to Ahmad, the sea conditions while in the rubber boat were quite severe, as strong winds and large waves continuously battered the boat for approximately three hours, forcing them to endure the elements until help arrived.

“The waves were felt inside the boat. In the rubber boat alone, we were hit by waves for three hours. The wind and waves were large and high,” he added.

He mentioned that the ship had been swaying due to the impact of the waves, but the tilting happened extremely rapidly as the hull shifted to the left, prompting him to hold on tightly to protect himself.

“The ship tilted, just tilted. The tilting was very fast because the position had already shifted to the left,” he said.

He admitted he did not know for certain the condition of all the passengers who were still in their cabins when the ship began to tilt, but based on his observations, the number of people who managed to reach the rubber boats were men.

“There were many more. It seemed like many, because those who came out seemed to be just drivers, only men. Those in the cabins likely could not get out yet,” he said.

Ahmad is a native of Surabaya currently residing in Banjarbaru. He was in the process of transporting a bus unit to Kalimantan after collecting it from Surabaya when he became one of the passengers who successfully escaped the incident.