Jakarta. The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has stepped up its search for 129 people still missing after the KM Virgo Transport 8 went missing in the Java Sea, deploying 22 search and rescue (SAR) assets on the second day of the operation.

The assets include 17 vessels and five aircraft and helicopters, with seven additional assets deployed on Monday.

Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii said the agency was working with the Indonesian Navy, police, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and other agencies to search for and evacuate passengers.

“On the second day of the SAR operation, we have deployed five aircraft and helicopters,” Syafii said during a press conference on the latest developments in the search operation at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Monday.

The air assets include Basarnas’ HR 36012 helicopter, an AS-365 helicopter operated by the National Police Headquarters, an Indonesian Navy CN-235 aircraft, the Navy’s Panther HS 1310 helicopter and a BNPB-owned Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft.

The sea assets include the KN SAR Laksamana 241 from Banjarmasin, KN SAR Wisanggeni 236 from Balikpapan, KN SAR Kamajaya 104 from Makassar, KN SAR Permadi 249 from Surabaya and a rigid buoyancy boat from Palangkaraya.

The operation also involves Indonesian Navy vessels KRI Nala, KRI Pulau Fani, KRI Canopus and KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai.

Other vessels deployed include KP Laksamana 7012, KP Orca 06, KN Kunyit, KAL Kumai II, MV Haida, KM Cahaya Bahari Jaya, MT Mauhuw IX and TB Transcoal Pacific.

Basarnas said 114 people had been found so far, including 108 survivors and six people who died. Another 129 people remain missing.

Of those found, 86 people have arrived at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, including 85 survivors and one person who died.

The KM Virgo Transport 8 was carrying 243 people when it was reported missing in waters off Masalembo in the Java Sea at around 2 a.m. Central Indonesia Time (WITA) on Sunday. The vessel had departed Surabaya for Banjarmasin on Saturday.

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