Update on KM Virgo Victim Search: Dive Team Recovers Three Bodies at 24 Meters Depth - GoKompas

BANJARMASIN, KOMPAS.com - A combined Search and Rescue (SAR) team discovered three bodies of KM Virgo Transport 8 victims on Friday (18/9/2026).

The three bodies were found during a dive operation around the shipwreck area at a depth of 24 meters.

Basarnas Operations Director, First Admiral (Laksma) Yudhi Bramantyo Nur Sasongko, stated that the first victim, a male, was found near the ship's body around 12:28 WITA.

An hour later, the dive team found another male and a female victim.

"So today, we succeeded in finding three bodies," Yudhi said during a press conference at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin on Friday evening.

Yudhi said that all victims were found at a depth of 24 meters.

The success in finding the three victims was partly due to favorable weather conditions, especially the manageable current flow.

"The three bodies are currently being transported to Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin," Yudhi explained.

He confirmed that the KM Virgo Transport 8 wreck has not shifted.

"The ship remains in the same position as yesterday, no longer moving, resting at a depth between 24 and 29 meters," he said.

The search will continue tomorrow, the seventh day, using diving methods.

"If the weather permits, we will continue diving operations tomorrow," he added.

Previously, the ship carrying 243 passengers had an accident in South Kalimantan waters during a voyage from Surabaya to Banjarmasin on early Sunday morning (13/9/2026).

In the incident, 114 passengers were evacuated, with 108 rescued alive and six others deceased.

Following today's discovery of three bodies on Friday (18/9/2026), the total number of confirmed deaths has risen to nine.

Meanwhile, 126 passengers remain missing and are still being searched for.