Virgo Transport Incident: Death Toll Rises To 52, Basarnas Pushes For Wreck Salvage

By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil

JAKARTA, Sept 26 (NNN) -- The death toll from the KMP Virgo Transport 8 sinking in Indonesia's Java Sea has risen to 52, with 108 people rescued and 83 still being searched for, as authorities push for the wreck to be raised to facilitate the search for remaining victims.

National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Mission Coordinator, I Putu Sudayana, said 11 bodies were evacuated on Friday, the 13th day of the search and rescue operation, including five retrieved from the wreck and six found along the coast of Seruyan in Central Kalimantan, about 135 nautical miles from the sinking site.

“Five bodies were evacuated by a diving team, while the six bodies from Central Kalimantan are now on their way to Bhayangkara Hospital. We had planned to use a helicopter, but because of the forest fires, the smoke was thick, so we decided to evacuate them by road,” he told a press conference on Friday night.

The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 people and 89 vehicles from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, lost contact at about 2 am local time on Sept 13 and was found capsized later the same day, before gradually sinking deeper over the following days.

On the continuing search inside the wreck, Putu said the vessel's tilted and unstable position prevented divers from safely entering some compartments, prompting Basarnas to push for the salvage operation to be expedited so that more areas could be accessed.

“Divers cannot enter all the compartments because the vessel is still tilted. If we break windows in areas with low stability, it will affect the vessel and endanger our divers,” he said.

He said the operation was further hampered by waves of between 1.75 and 2.5 metres and strong, shifting underwater currents, forcing diving schedules to be adjusted according to conditions.

As the operation entered its 14th day on Saturday, Putu said 65 divers from Basarnas, the Indonesian Navy, the Indonesian Diving Association (POSSI) and other search and rescue units were set to be deployed in several sorties, focusing on areas assessed as safe to enter.

--NNN