&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "WATCH | Underwater footage shows capsized Indonesian passenger ship as 129 remain missing")
Indonesia has launched a salvage operation to right the passenger ship Virgo Transport 8, which capsized and sank in the Java Sea last weekend, as authorities continued air and sea searches on Friday for 129 people who remain missing. The vessel was carrying 243 people on a 20-hour journey from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when it capsized in severe weather early on Sunday.
Six people have been confirmed dead and 108 survived the accident. Those figures have remained unchanged since Sunday.
Rescue teams were unable to locate additional survivors or bodies during the first five days of the search because of strong currents and large waves. Authorities therefore decided to right the vessel to make underwater rescue operations easier.
The ship remained partially afloat for several days but had completely sunk to the seabed by Thursday evening, officials said.
"The salvage operation is already underway. An observation was conducted yesterday, and today the team will likely move toward the location (of the ship)," said Banjarmasin Navy Commander Galih Nurna Putra. The salvage plan involves pulling the vessel toward a shallower section of the seabed before attempting to turn it upright, Galih said.
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The operation will be led by the ship's owner under Indonesian law, with support from the country's rescue agency, navy and maritime police, said I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin rescue agency. Once the ship has been turned upright, rescue and evacuation operations will begin, Putu said. "As long as the ship is still at the seabed, the dive team dared only to remain outside the ship," he said.
Authorities deployed eight ships and two helicopters on Friday for air and surface searches. However, strong winds, currents and waves continued to make the operation difficult, Putu said. Two representatives of victims' families were also allowed to join Friday's search so they could see the challenging weather conditions at the site and better understand the technical difficulties faced by rescuers. On Thursday, a Navy diving team managed to approach the sunken vessel and record underwater footage. Divers also recovered evidence including wallets, identity cards and hundreds of water-damaged parcels and plastic-wrapped packages, Galih said.
