Rescuers are still searching for at least 129 people missing after a passenger ferry overturned in rough seas in Indonesia's Java Sea, with the operation entering its third day as officials deploy underwater teams and drones around the vessel's last known position. At least 108 people were rescued and the bodies of six passengers were recovered after the Virgo Transport 8 capsized early on Sunday. The ship's manifest listed 243 people on board — 213 passengers and 30 crew — along with 89 vehicles. Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said aerial searches showed the ferry floating upside down but still afloat, and that rescue teams were concentrating their efforts around the overturned hull. ## Distress Call in Three-Meter Waves Contact was lost with the vessel at about 2 a.m. Sunday while it traveled from Surabaya in East Java province to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province on Borneo Island. The search and rescue office in Banjarmasin received a report roughly two hours later. The captain had reported rough seas with waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) before issuing a distress call saying the ship was listing, according to I Putu Sudayana, who heads the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office. Authorities later received information indicating the ferry had overturned. The vessel's last known position was in the Java Sea's Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from Banjarmasin. Hundreds of distraught relatives gathered at a command center in Banjarmasin's Trisakti port, and at a port in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city. Many anxiously checked passenger manifests and rescue lists for word on family members believed to be aboard, as officials posted the names of the rescued. "I was shocked when I saw my uncle's name on the passenger list," said a woman identified by a single name, Bunga, at the command center. "But I felt relieved after officials told me he had been rescued." Bunga was among hundreds of relatives who spent Sunday at the center as names of the rescued were confirmed. ## 622 Personnel and Underwater Drones Join the Search By Sunday afternoon, authorities were deploying teams supported by a dozen vessels, including four navy ships and two helicopters, assisted by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels. A rescue ship was first dispatched to the vessel's last known position while the larger fleet was assembled. On Monday, the operation expanded to 17 ships and aircraft carrying about 622 personnel drawn from the military, police and other agencies, according to Mohammad Syafii, chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency. "We remain hopeful of finding more survivors," Syafii told a video briefing. He said specialised underwater teams and navy-operated underwater drones were being deployed to strengthen search efforts and speed up the evacuation of victims. Rough seas continued to hinder rescue work in the days after the capsizing, according to officials at the scene. Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed the bottom of the ferry visible above the water as it floated overturned in choppy waters during a helicopter search operation. Separate footage captured exhausted survivors disembarking from a rescue ship in Banjarmasin, while injured victims were carried on stretchers before being taken by ambulances to nearby hospitals. ## A 39-Year-Old Vessel With a Cross-Border History The manifest's figures come with a caveat: it is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers to differ from the manifest, meaning the true count of those aboard may only be confirmed as rescue lists are reconciled. The discrepancy is a familiar complication for rescuers working Indonesian routes. The 119-meter (390-foot) ferry was built in Japan in 1987 and operated there until last year, when it was sold to its current Indonesian operator, PT Virgo Karya Shipping. ## An Archipelago Where Ferry Disasters Recur Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak enforcement of safety standards often blamed. Sunday's capsizing follows a string of recent maritime incidents in the region. At least 211 people were rescued from an Indonesian ferry that caught fire last month in rough seas near the tourist island of Bali, while one person was found dead and four others remained missing. That fire came less than two weeks after another Indonesian ferry, the Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire off the main island of Java, with the loss of at least five people. Four days before the Virgo Transport 8 capsized, a fire gutted a passenger ferry in the Philippines, killing at least 76 people, with at least 10 others still missing. By Tuesday, the operation had entered its third day, with the search still centered on the waters where the ferry went down. Officials said the effort would continue around the overturned hull, with families kept at the command centers as survivor and casualty lists are updated.