JAKARTA, Sept. 13 -- Indonesian rescuers launched a search operation on Sunday for a passenger ship carrying 240 people after it lost contact while sailing through the Java Sea from East Java to South Kalimantan on Borneo island, officials said.
The Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province, said it received a report that the Virgo Transport 8 had experienced a communication failure while travelling to Banjarmasin from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java province.
Initial information indicated that the vessel's last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometres from a pier in Banjarmasin.
Authorities launched search efforts after contact with the vessel was lost. Rescu...