Virgo Transport 8: Death Toll Rises to 42 as Divers Recover 14 More Bodies From the Wreck

Diving teams searching inside the hull of the KM Virgo Transport 8 recovered 14 more bodies on 24 September, pushing the confirmed death toll from the Java Sea capsizing to 42.

The retrieval came after weeks of difficult conditions on the wreck site. The ship lies in roughly 30 metres of water, and divers have been hampered by poor visibility and strong currents since operations began. The latest bodies were found inside the cabins and transported by helicopter to Banjarmasin for identification.

Of the 243 people aboard when Virgo Transport 8 lost contact in the early hours of 13 September, 108 have survived and 42 are now confirmed dead. Ninety-three are still missing. The search is continuing, led jointly by the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the Indonesian Navy and other units.

The ship was en route from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when it encountered rough weather. Contact was lost around 2 a.m. local time. No distress signal was confirmed before the ship went down.

Indonesia was not the only country dealing with a ferry disaster in mid-September. Around the same time, Vanuatu's prime minister cancelled his UN General Assembly trip after the overcrowded ferry MV Matui sank with more than 30 people still missing.

Indonesia has seen sustained interest on MarineRadar over the past 48 hours, with nine unique devices searching for updates. With nearly a hundred people still unaccounted for and diving operations set to continue, the toll is not yet final.