Search underway after ferry carrying 243 people loses contact in Indonesia

An Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people lost contact with authorities in the Java Sea on Sunday.

Local authorities said 102 people have been brought to safety and one person has died.

"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.

It departed on Saturday at 10:13am local time (0330 UTC), but the ship's operator lost contact with the vessel early Sunday amid bad weather.

Search and rescue teams launched an operation after the operator alerted authorities.

"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.

Search operation underway

Rescue teams were dispatched to Banjarmasin's Basirih Search and Rescue pier, with a rescue ship sent toward the vessel's estimated last known location.

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.