Search ships and a helicopter have been deployed.
Indonesia: Search underway after passenger ferry overturns
One person has died and 140 people are still missing after a ferry disappeared in the Java Sea, Indonesia.
A search and rescue operation has been launched after contact was lost with Virgo Transport 8 ship, which had 243 people on board. The ferry travelling from Surabaya to the southern city of Banjarmasin, had been last reported to be around 150km south of Banjarmasin at around 2am local time on Sunday.
The ferry has gone missing (Image: Getty)
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency stated that the vessel had lost contact due to encountering bad weather conditions.
All other vessels in the area of the Java Sea have been alerted to report signs of passengers, while search and rescue ships, as well as a helicopter, have been deployed to the scene.
The search for remaining passengers is ongoing.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the Search and Rescue Office, said authorities were deploying all available personnel and assets because of the large number of crew members and passengers on board.
He said the agency was coordinating with maritime authorities and other relevant agencies as part of the search, while closely monitoring weather conditions.
The search for passengers is ongoing (Image: Getty)
Ferry and boat travel are common across Indonesia, which is home to more than 17,000 islands.
Incidents at sea are common across Indonesia, with lax enforcement of safety standards often cited as a contributing factor. The latest incident follows a separate ferry fire off Madura Island last month, which killed five people.