Malaysia Expresses Condolences Over Indonesia's Virgo Transport 8 Sinking - Tempo.co English

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Malaysian government, through its embassy in Jakarta, has expressed its condolences regarding the sinking of the KMP Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea, Indonesia, an incident that affected hundreds of passengers.

These condolences were conveyed by the Chargé d'Affaires ad Interim of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, Farzamie Zarkawi, at the beginning of his remarks during the Malaysia Day celebration on Tuesday evening.

"I extend my sympathy and condolences to the government and people of the Republic of Indonesia, particularly to the families affected by the sinking of the passenger ship in the Java Sea on September 13, 2026," said Farzamie in Jakarta.

He also expressed his hope that the rescue operations for all those involved in the sinking would proceed smoothly to completion.

"We hope that all search and rescue efforts currently underway will be facilitated by Allah SWT," said the Chargé d'Affaires.

The passenger ship Virgo Transport 8 reportedly lost contact in the waters of Masalembo, Java Sea, on Sunday (Sept 13) at approximately 02:00 WITA (Central Indonesian Time) before it was subsequently confirmed to have sunk.

The ill-fated vessel, carrying 243 passengers and crew, sank while en route from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, a journey that began on Saturday (Sept 12).

As of Tuesday (Sept 15) at 22:00 WITA, the Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Mohammad Syafii, confirmed that 114 victims had been located—comprising 108 survivors and six fatalities—leaving 129 people still missing out of the total 243 on board.

All 114 located victims—the 108 survivors and the six deceased—have been evacuated to Banjarmasin. Meanwhile, the South Kalimantan Regional Police's Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team has successfully identified all six fatalities recovered so far from the sinking of the KMP Virgo Transport 8.

The five victims identified today are Nurul Rian Hidayat (from Pamekasan), Deny Ridzal Saputra (from Kediri), Imam Soeparno (from Surabaya), Erick Maisul Latif (from Garut), and Risyan Kurnia Putra (from Garut).

Previously, on Monday (September 14), the DVI team had identified a fatality named Reyner Fausta Yosilianto (from Malang).