Indonesian divers have begun salvage operations this weekend to retrieve bodies and right a passenger ferry that capsized in the Java Sea a week ago.
According to Basarnas, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, the Virgo Transport 8 lost contact with its operator in the early hours of last Sunday, with 243 passengers and crew on board.
108 people were rescued, according to the operations director at Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, but 126 people are still missing.
Divers recovered three bodies on Friday.
Contact was lost with the Virgo Transport8 ship in the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 13 as it encountered bad weather en route from Surabaya to the South Kalimantan city of Banjarmasin.
The vessel was last reported to be about 93 miles south of Banjarmasin when contact was lost.
Strong currents and large waves limited rescue efforts for five days, after which authorities made the decision – on Friday – to right the ship in order to facilitate recovery operations.
The Archbishop of Jakarta and Military Ordinary for Indonesia, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, told Crux Now the Church is praying for victims and their loved ones in the wake of the tragedy.
“For sure we pray for the victims and survivors and their families,” Suharyo said, noting as well that Indonesia has been sorely tried in recent times by “accidents and disasters, floods, earthquakes, drought, and volcanic eruptions.”
He praised the government’s response to the ferry tragedy, but noted the human element in many of the disasters Indonesia has faced and continues to face.
“We all know for certain that while some are purely natural disasters,” he said, “the majority seem to be man-made, driven by human greed.”
“Rather than curse the darkness,” Suharyo told Crux Now, “it is better to light a small candle in the midst of it.”
Suharyo said he is “grateful that amidst all these calamities, a high sense of solidarity is also clearly evident within the community, particularly within the Catholic Church in Indonesia.”
Caritas Indonesia and various diocesan Caritas outfits have been highly responsive, Suharyo also told Crux Now.
“They do not only send aid in the form of goods or funds gathered from the faithful in each diocese, but also medical personnel.”
“Even high school students travel to the disaster sites to ease the burden of their brothers and sisters,” Suharyo said, “especially during the emergency response phase.”
“This solidarity will continue,” he said, “as the recovery process will take a long time.”
Suharyo called the Catholic Church’s involvement in disaster management “a tangible manifestation of the dynamic spirit of the Catholic Church in Indonesia: Faith – Fraternity – Compassion.”
Those aptitudes of spirit are not only helpful, but necessary in the life of a nation like Indonesia, which sprawls over some 17 thousand islands directly along to so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Indo-Australian, Eurasian, and the Pacific tectonic plates meet.
Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanos, and also faces severe seasonal weather.
“Super El Niño” weather conditions this summer have contributed to persistent wildfires in Indonesia, as well, where hot and dry weather has created drought in some places.
Authorities this week announced that the fires could continue to burn until November, with the rainy season expected to arrive late.
Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni urged people this week to avoid using fire to clear land during the extended drought, as Indonesia battles what have been described as the most intense wildfires the country has faced in more than a decade.