A passenger ship that had lost contact in Indonesia's Java Sea has sunk, the country's National Search and Rescue Agency said Sunday.
The passenger ship, Virgo Transport 8, was carrying about 240 people when it lost contact at around 02:00 local time on Sunday after encountering bad weather, according to the search and rescue agency.
A total of 119 people have been rescued and six have died, according to the latest available figures.
The Chinese Consulate General in Surabaya confirmed that no Chinese nationals were aboard the ship, citing information verified with relevant authorities of the Surabaya city government.
The vessel departed from Surabaya in East Java province on Saturday and was heading to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province.
The cause of the accident remains unclear. Indonesian search and rescue authorities have deployed personnel, ships and a helicopter to waters near the vessel's last known position to conduct search and rescue operations.
Indonesia, an archipelagic country of around 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries and other maritime transport to connect its regions and facilitate travel. Maritime accidents occur periodically due to weather and sea conditions, as well as vessel safety issues.
Passenger ship sinks in Indonesia, around 130 still missing
At the invitation of China's Ministry of Public Security, eight police officers from Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs began a two-week joint police patrol mission with Chinese police in south China's Hainan Province on Friday, to jointly ensure the safety of Chinese and Serbian tourists and deepen bilateral law enforcement cooperation.
During the two-week joint police patrol, the Serbian officers will work alongside their Chinese counterparts to address safety concerns raised by Serbian citizens in China, provide law enforcement advice, and together present a safe and orderly environment for tourists.
"For this joint police patrol, we are divided into two teams, each with eight members - four from the Serbian side and four from the Chinese side. The joint patrol in Sanya will take place from September 11 to 17, mainly in areas of major tourist attractions with relatively more foreign visitors, such as the Dadonghai and Luhuitou scenic spots in Jiyang District, and the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex," said Sun Wenpeng, deputy chief of the Linwang Police Station of Haitang Branch of the Sanya Municipal Public Security Bureau and Chinese leader of the joint patrol team.
Since 2019, Chinese and Serbian police departments have dispatched officers to each other's country for joint patrols.
In 2024, Serbian police officers came to China for the first time to perform joint patrol duties for 12 days in Sanya, which yielded positive results.
This time, joint tourism law enforcement cooperation marks another important step in deepening collaboration between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries.
Chinese, Serbian police launch two-week joint patrol in Hainan
