Indonesian rescuers began a search operation on Sunday after a passenger ship carrying 240 people lost contact while sailing across the Java Sea from East Java to South Kalimantan on Borneo island, officials
said.
The Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province, said it was alerted to a communication failure involving the Virgo Transport 8. The vessel was travelling to Banjarmasin from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city in East Java province.
The ship’s last known position was in the Java Sea, around 148 kilometres (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin, according to preliminary information.
No casualties had been reported immediately.
Arianto Ardi, operations chief at Banjarmasin’s rescue agency, confirmed that contact with the vessel had been lost and said rescue teams had been sent to the area.
“We have established an operations post at Trisakti,” Arianto said.
According to the authorities, the ship’s operator reported the incident after being informed that the vessel had run into bad weather.
(With inputs from AP)
