A passenger ferry in Indonesia, carrying 243 individuals, has been reported missing after it lost contact early Sunday morning in the Java Sea, according to a statement from the national search and rescue agency cited by Reuters.
The vessel, named “Virgo Transport 8,” departed on Saturday from Surabaya, East Java, heading to the city of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan before losing communication.
As of the time of the report, the agency confirmed that the ship could not be contacted and its whereabouts remain unknown.
Rescue teams have initiated search operations, dispatching a crew to the last known location of the ferry, the agency stated.
Indonesia, an archipelago consisting of 17,000 islands, heavily relies on ferries as a primary mode of transport, as maritime routes are often more accessible and available than air travel.
However, safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, leading to a relatively high rate of accidents.
