Indonesia ferry carrying 243 goes missing in Java Sea; 1 dead, 102 rescued

Jakarta: One person was killed and more than 100 were rescued on Sunday after a ferry sailing between the Indonesian islands of Java and to Borneo was hit by bad weather, rescue officials said.

"We have carried out efforts to search for victims to the fullest extent. There were passengers who...had already been successfully evacuated by the units at the scene. We can inform you that the total number of evacuated passengers is 103 people," local search and rescue chief I Putu Sudayana said.

However, one of the rescued passengers died, he told reporters in the port city of Banjarmasin, where the vessel was headed.

The passenger and cargo vessel Virgo Transport 8 left Surabaya in East Java on Saturday and encountered poor weather before losing contact with its shipping company early Sunday.

"We have received the report regarding the loss of contact with the Virgo Transport 8 vessel and have immediately deployed personnel and KN SAR Laksmana 241 to the estimated last known position," said I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office.

"Considering the relatively large number of passengers and crew on board, we are optimising coordination with all relevant elements to accelerate the search process and ensure the safety of all passengers and crew."

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Search and rescue efforts began Sunday morning, with the navy, police and the ferry operator, Virgo, joining the operation.

The vessel was last detected in the Java Sea, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from its destination at Banjarmasin pier, Sudayana said.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, depends heavily on ferry and boat services for transport between its islands. Maritime accidents are relatively common, with poor safety standards and unpredictable weather often cited as contributing factors.

The latest incident comes as Indonesian authorities continue another search operation for a speedboat carrying eight people, including five journalists from local and international news organisations. The boat went missing Monday near Mount Anak Krakatau in Banten province.

The journalists had travelled to cover the volcano's eruption, which disrupted operations at Jakarta's main airport and several other airports.

Last month, a ferry fire in the Lombok Strait off Bali killed one person and left five others missing. A total of 211 people were rescued after the vessel, travelling from Bali to Lombok, ran into trouble in the early hours of Aug. 12.

In July, another ferry carrying more than 70 people sank while sailing near Selayar, a small island south of Sulawesi.