Indonesia rescuers battle turbulent seas in search for 129 people after ship capsizes

Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers including the coastguard and the navy raced on Monday to board a passenger ship that capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend as they searched for the 129 people still missing, officials said, with the confirmed death toll at six.

The Virgo Transport 8 ship carrying 243 people went missing in bad weather early on Sunday, the rescue agency said. Authorities have since rescued 108 people from the ship, which was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Choppy waters with high waves and strong winds were impeding the search on Monday, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the national rescue agency.

The agency has deployed at least 622 personnel, 17 ships, five helicopters and aircraft to find the missing passengers, Syafii added. Some of the ships have arrived at the location but it was difficult for rescuers to make their way intothe capsized ship, he said.

"We would also deploy personnel with underwater rescue skills but the current conditions do not allow us to," he said.

"While waiting for the weather conditions to improve, we are identifying more personnel with special skills," he said, adding the death toll remained at six.

In a video shared by the rescue agency, a large red-and-black ship was capsized and partially submerged in choppy blue water, with its red-painted underside visible above the surface.

Two small boats, each carrying people, were seen floating in rough waters near the capsized ship.

The location of the capsized boat is around 80 nautical miles (nearly 150 kilometres) from the command centre at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, another official at the rescue agency told Reuters.

"The conditions there are quite windy, making it difficult for the vessel to dock," the official, Arianto Ardi, said.

THREE-METRE WAVE CRASHES INTO SHIP

The weather was very poor when the incident happened, with waves as high as three metres crashing into the ship, Syafii said.

It takes around five hours to reach the location from Trisakti Port in good weather but requires up to nine hours in rough conditions.

On Sunday, Edy Prakoso, another official at the agency, said the ship leaned heavily to one side after strong waves hit its starboard side.

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the capsized boat had the capacity to contain 500 passengers, so it was not overloaded.

Indonesia relies on ferries across its 17,000 islands, with sea travel cheaper and more accessible than flying, but there have been numerous accidents.

In separate incidents last month, two ferries carrying hundreds of passengers caught fire in the water. Five people died when a ferry caught fire off Madura island, while one person died in a fire on a ferry travelling from the tourist island of Bali.