Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers including the coastguard and the navy raced on Monday (September 14) to board a passenger ship that capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend as they searched for the 129 people still missing, officials said, with the confirmed death toll at six.

The Virgo Transport 8 ship carrying 243 people went missing in bad weather early on Sunday (September 13), the rescue agency said. Authorities have since rescued 108 people from the ship, which was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

At a local medical facility, survivors received treatment for their injuries. Survivor Rinto Arahab said the vessel began listing heavily before overturning within minutes, forcing him to grab a life jacket and cling to the ship before climbing onto the upturned hull, where he waited to be rescued by two tugboats.

In separate incidents last month, two ferries carrying hundreds of passengers caught fire in the water. Five people died when a ferry caught fire off Madura island, while one person died in a fire on a ferry travelling from the tourist island of Bali.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. RESCUE TEAM CARRYING BODY BAG OF CAPSIZE VICTIM FROM UPPER DECK OF RESCUE SHIP

2. VARIOUS OF RESCUE TEAM CARRYING BODY BAG DOWN ONTO PORT

3. RESCUE TEAM WALKING WITH SURVIVORS FROM THE SHIP

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) HEAD OF SAR BANJARMASIN, MOHAMMAD SYAFII, SAYING:

“In the operation we are carrying out, of the 243 people on board, 108 have been evacuated alive and six have been confirmed dead. This means 129 passengers are still being searched for.”

BANJARMASIN, SOUTH KALIMANTAN PROVINCE, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 13, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

5. (NIGHT SHOT) AMBULANCES ARRIVING AT PORT

6. SURVIVOR OF CAPSIZED SHIP BEING TRANSPORTED TO MEDICAL FACILITY

7. VARIOUS OF SURVIVORS BEING TREATED

8. SURVIVOR RINTO ARAHAB SEATED ON EMERGENCY BED

9. ARAHAB'S THUMB BANDAGED

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) CAPSIZED SHIP SURVIVOR, RINTO ARAHAB, SAYING:

“The ship listed to the left. About two minutes later, I looked for a life jacket and held on to the side of the vessel until it finally went over. Then I climbed onto the hull and stayed there until two tugboats arrived to help.”

BANJARMASIN, SOUTH KALIMANTAN PROVINCE, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 14, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

11. SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION STATION

12. RELATIVES OF SHIP PASSENGERS LOOKING AT PASSENGER MANIFEST

13. RELATIVE SPEAKING TO INFORMATION STAFF