September 17, 2026 | 05:55 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Banjarmasin Naval Base Commander (Danlanal) Colonel (Navy) Galih Nurna Putra stated that the wreckage of the Motor Vessel (KM) Virgo Transport 8—which was involved in an accident—remains visible, even though it is now submerged beneath the sea surface.
Colonel Galih noted that the KM Virgo wreckage had shifted another 450 meters, following an earlier displacement of 2,963 meters from the initial coordinates where the accident occurred in the Java Sea on Sunday, September 13, 2026.
"What appeared red yesterday is now—whether at the surface or just below it—still visible," he said during a press conference regarding the fourth day of search and rescue (SAR) operations for the KM Virgo Transport 8 incident at Trisakti Port, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Wednesday evening.
He mentioned that this change in conditions would alter the operational plan for the dive team, who must first conduct observations to verify the ship's condition against images and data obtained during the initial phase before proceeding with the operation in stages.
"So, that situation will certainly change the plans the dive team was set to execute," he stated.
He explained that the ship was previously known to be capsized with part of its hull still afloat before it shifted again and sank.
He stated that the joint SAR team's actions are proceeding in stages adapted to conditions, and diving operations are being carried out by personnel with qualifications suited to the mission's needs—specifically, specialized divers from the Navy's Frogman Command (Kopaska) and the Underwater Diving Service (Dislambair)—under the direct supervision of the Commander of Fleet Command (Pangkoarmada) II.
KM Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 people while sailing from Surabaya, East Java, to Banjarmasin, having departed on September 12, 2026.
The vessel reportedly encountered bad weather and lost contact before being discovered capsized in the waters of Masalembo, Java Sea, at 02:00 WITA (Central Indonesian Time) on September 13, 2026. As of 10:00 PM Central Indonesian Time (WITA) on Wednesday (September 16), Basarnas confirmed that 114 victims had been found, comprising 108 survivors and six fatalities.
Of the total 243 people listed on the KM Virgo Transport 8 manifest, 129 remain missing.
Read: Prabowo Extends Condolences over Virgo Vessel Tragedy
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