Rescuers searching for 140 people after Indonesia passenger ship sinks, agency says

The passenger ship, carrying ​243 people, was reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather

Indonesian ​rescuers were searching on Sunday for 140 people from ​a passenger ship that sank in the Java ⁠Sea after 103 others were evacuated, one of whom died, ​a search and rescue agency official said.

An Indonesian passenger ship carrying ​243 people had been reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather, the search and rescue agency said.

The Virgo Transport 8 ​ship had set sail on Saturday from the East ​Java city of Surabaya to the South Kalimantan city of Banjarmasin, it said.

The ‌agency ⁠said later on Sunday the ship had sunk, without providing further details.

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I Putu Sudayana, the head of the agency's Banjarmasin office, said in a video statement that 103 people had ​been evacuated using ​different ships and ⁠some of them would be taken to an East Java port.

Rescuers launched a search, deploying ​a team, ships and a helicopter toward the ​passenger ⁠vessel's last known position, he said.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries as a key mode of transportation, with ⁠sea ​routes more affordable and readily available ​than air travel.

However, safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, resulting in a ​relatively high accident rate.