JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers launched a search operation Sunday after a passenger ship carrying at least 240 people lost contact in the Java Sea while traveling 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 they received a report the Virgo Transport 8 had experienced a communication failure while en route to the city from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city in East Java province.
Initial information indicated the vessel’s last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin. The ship’s manifest said it was carrying 241 passengers.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Arianto Ardi, operations chief at Banjarmasin’s rescue agency, confirmed the loss of contact with the vessel and said rescue personnel had been dispatched to the area.
“We have established an operations post at Trisakti,” Arianto said.
Authorities said the ship’s operator reported the incident after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather.
MAKKAH: More than 60 early Islamic inscriptions and two historic wells in Wadi Al-Usaylah, northeast…
DAMASCUS: Syria’s Culture Ministry is stepping up efforts to combat illiteracy and expand access to…
WASHINGTON: A federal judge has ruled that a plan by the Trump administration to slash…
SANTIAGO, Chile: More than 280 people were arrested in Chile during protests condemning Augusto Pinochet’s…
CAIRO: A vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of…
VENICE, Italy: “Woman Unknown,” a drama about Denmark in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation…