Indonesia rescuers search for 130 people after ferry sinks

An Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea on Sunday after it was hit by bad weather, local authorities said.

Officials said six people had died, while 107 were brought to safety and some 130 passengers were still missing.

"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," I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office, told reporters. 

The Virgo Transport 8 was traveling from Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya to Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province on Borneo island.

It departed on Saturday at 10:13 a.m. local time (0330 UTC), but the ship's operator lost contact with the vessel early Sunday amid bad weather. It was scheduled to arrive in Banjarmasin at about 2 p.m. local time on (0700 UTC) Sunday.

Search operation underway

Search and rescue teams launched an operation after the operator alerted authorities. Ships and a helicopter were deployed to the vessel's last known location.

"The ship's operator reported the incident to authorities after receiving information that the vessel had encountered bad weather," Sudayana said in an earlier video briefing.

The ship's last known position was in the Java Sea, roughly 148 kilometers (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin, according to the Associated Press.

Sudayana added that authorities were mobilizing all available personnel and equipment given the large number of people aboard. The agency was coordinating with maritime authorities while closely monitoring weather conditions in the area, he said.

Indonesia, a nation of roughly 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries for transportation, with sea travel often cheaper and more accessible than flying. But safety enforcement across the country's maritime sector has been inconsistent, contributing to a comparatively high rate of accidents.

Edited by: Natalie Muller

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