Jakarta: One person was found dead and 86 others were rescued after an Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people went missing in the Java Sea on Sunday, according to broadcaster Kompas.
The fate of the remaining passengers was not immediately known as search and rescue operations continued.
The Virgo Transport 8 was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when communication with the vessel was lost at around 2am Central Indonesian Time.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the Class A Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, said authorities received an emergency report about two hours later and immediately dispatched a joint search and rescue team.
“The latest information received indicates that the ship is facing bad weather in the waters of the Java Sea, approximately 80 nautical miles (92 miles) from the Basirih SAR Dock, Banjarmasin,” Sudayana said in a statement.
Authorities said 243 people were aboard the vessel, including 30 crew members.
Search efforts were continuing to locate those still unaccounted for.