Indonesian divers face high — risk challenges to reach capsized ferry

Some 60 divers unable to access ferry since Sunday accident Operation seeks to rescue survivors with 129 missing Ferry's hull complicates rescuers' access, official says Divers will face near-zero visibility, flooded compartments, expert says Search involves 17 ships, 5 aircraft, 1,100 personnel By Ananda Teresia JAKARTA, Sept 18 (Reuters) — Beneath the surface of the eastern Java Sea, fast currents, water pressure and the hull design of a capsized ferry have thwarted several attempts by divers to reach 129 people missing since Sunday, Indonesian officials say. The high-risk challenges facing rescuers five days after the Virgo Transport 8 went down in bad weather are adding to the anguish for distraught friends and family. Six people were found dead and 108 rescued on the day of the accident, a toll that has not changed since. The 4,277-ton ship, which capsized some 800 km (500 miles) east-northeast of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, was making what should have been a 20-hour voyage from Surabaya in East Java province to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. About 60 divers from Indonesia's navy and a unit of the national rescue agency have been unable to reach the submerged wreck, said A