Indonesia’s Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi denies claims that Virgo Transport 8 was operating at less than half its maximum passenger capacity when it lost contact in the Java Sea dismissing early speculation that overloading had contributed to the disaster.
The minister said the ship was carrying 243 passengers, well below its maximum permitted capacity of 500 people.
“The passenger capacity of Virgo Transport 8 is 500 people, so the number was well below the maximum limit,” Dudy said.
The vessel lost contact in waters off Masalembo at around 2:00 a.m. Central Indonesian Time (WITA) on Sunday while en route from Surabaya to Banjarmasin.
As of 11:00 a.m. WITA on Monday, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) reported that 114 of the 243 people on board had been accounted for, including 108 survivors and six confirmed fatalities.
Rescuers are continuing to search for the remaining 129 people who are still missing.
A total of 86 people, including 85 survivors and one deceased passenger, had already been brought ashore at Trisakti Port.
