An Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea on Sunday after encountering severe weather, leaving at least 6 people dead and 140 passengers missing, authorities said.
Rescue teams have so far evacuated 102 people, according to the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office.
The vessel, Virgo Transport 8, was travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province on Borneo island.
It departed Surabaya at 10:13 a.m. local time on Saturday and was expected to arrive in Banjarmasin at about 2 p.m. Sunday.
However, the ship’s operator lost contact with the vessel early Sunday as bad weather swept through the area.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office, said authorities moved quickly to locate and assist those on board after the operator reported the incident.
"We have carried out efforts to search for victims to the fullest extent,” Sudayana told reporters, adding that several passengers had been evacuated by rescue units at the scene."
Ships and a helicopter were dispatched to the vessel’s last known location in the Java Sea, about 148 kilometres (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin, according to the Associated Press.
In an earlier video briefing, Sudayana said the operator alerted authorities after receiving information that the ship had run into bad weather.
Authorities have mobilised additional personnel and equipment because of the large number of people believed to have been aboard the vessel.
Rescue agencies are coordinating with maritime authorities while monitoring weather conditions in the area.
Indonesia, an archipelago of roughly 17,000 islands, depends heavily on ferries and other passenger vessels to connect communities across its vast network of islands.
Sea travel is often cheaper and more accessible than air transport, particularly for communities outside major urban centres.
However, safety enforcement in parts of Indonesia’s maritime sector has been inconsistent, with overcrowding, poor vessel conditions and challenging weather among factors that have contributed to frequent deadly maritime accidents.
