High Waves Delay Evacuation of 22 Virgo Transport 8 Survivors

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2 hours ago

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said 22 confirmed survivors of the Virgo Transport 8 accident were stranded at sea after high waves repeatedly disrupted their evacuation to Banjarmasin.

Basarnas Chief Mohammad Syafii said the 22 survivors were aboard the wooden Cahaya Bahari, which remained offshore because above-normal waves prevented it from approaching the vessel receiving the survivors.

“Because of above-normal waves this morning, the two vessels briefly collided during the transfer, requiring repairs,” Syafii said at a press conference on Monday evening or the second day of the SAR operation.

He said the conditions forced rescuers to use a smaller vessel to transfer the survivors to the KRI Nala, slowing the evacuation. The large warship also could not dock directly at the city of Banjarmasin’s Trisakti Port.

The survivors were then transferred from KRI Nala to the Indonesian Navy’s Kumai vessel late Monday to continue their journey to Banjarmasin, where they were expected to arrive early Tuesday.

“So they had to be transferred again to the Kumai, which is also operated by the Indonesian Navy. The process is underway, and hopefully they will arrive within hours,” Syafii said.

As of 10 p.m. local time on Monday, 114 victims had been found, including 108 survivors and six dead, leaving 129 people missing from the 243 aboard, Syafii said.

Of the 114 victims found, 86 had arrived at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, including 85 survivors and one deceased victim whose remains had been handed over to the family.

A second deceased victim was evacuated to Syamsudin Noor Air Base in Banjarbaru and handed over to the National Police’s DVI team for further medical examination.

One survivor was flown by a Basarnas helicopter to Syamsudin Noor Air Base, while 26 others were being evacuated to Trisakti Port, including 22 survivors and four dead.

Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 passengers and lost contact in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea at around 2 a.m. local time Sunday, September 13, while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin.