BANJARMASIN (TABIRkota) – The Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Syafi’i, announced the preliminary suspected cause of the sinking of KM Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea early Sunday morning (Sept 13).
According to him, the vessel, which was carrying 243 passengers, is believed to have sunk during bad weather after being struck by large waves.
"On Sunday (Sept 13) around midnight LT (WITA), KM Virgo Transport 8 encountered an emergency due to bad weather, and two hours later, the vessel capsized," he said during a press conference at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Monday (Sept 14).
He stated that after receiving a signal from KM Virgo Transport 8, Basarnas immediately broadcast the information to vessels in the vicinity to assist with the evacuation process.
"The emergency occurring in the open sea caused a delay in the victims’ evacuation process, as the travel time from the Banjarmasin SAR station was five hours," he said.
To date, Basarnas has recorded the successful evacuation of 114 passengers from KM Virgo Transport 8, comprising 108 survivors and six fatalities.
The victims were evacuated by vessels that were in the area at the time of the incident, such as the MV Haida, the TB Mauhau IX (owned by PT Pertamina Patra Niaga), the fishing vessel KM Sri Asih, and the KN SAR Laksmana 241.Of the 114 passengers successfully evacuated, 85 survivors and one deceased victim have arrived at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin and received medical attention.
Based on assessments conducted by Basarnas with the passengers, information was obtained indicating that at the time of the incident, waves were extremely high—reaching around three meters—and were washing into the vessel.
Meanwhile, the exact sequence of events surrounding the sinking of the KM Virgo Transport 8 is still awaiting the results of the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT). (ra)
