Hundreds still missing after ferry sinking

[JoeyandDavid]

RESCUERS have found the bodies of 66 victims of a ferry that sank off Java, but more than 400 people are still missing after the vessel capsized in huge seas, state media has said.

Survivors in Rembang, a town on the Central Java coast, yesterday told harrowing stories of the ship's last moments and their struggles to put on life jackets and get into lifeboats just before the Senopati Nusantara sank, about midnight on Friday.

Indonesian fishermen and rescuers have found at least 177 survivors as ships continue the search for more. Some 151 survivors were already on land while 15 others were on a Vietnamese ship making its way to the Javanese port of Surabaya, the transport department said today.

"Besides that, there is one victim who is dead and is on board a fisherman's boat which is also bringing 11 survivors to Rembang at the moment,'' department official Soeharto was quoted as saying by the official Antara news agency.

A group of 17 men and one woman were picked up by fishing boats and taken to Rembang hospital, where most of the survivors of the ferry disaster have been taken for medical check-ups, Rembang police officer Suripto told AFP.

The "Senopati Nusantara'' (Archipelago Commander), carrying about 600 people from Kumai on Borneo island to the Javanese port city of Semarang, sank late on Friday off the north coast of Java.

Port official Slamet Rahardjo told reporters in Semarang the ferry was licensed to carry 850 people. He said it was equipped with two lifeboats, 47 liferafts capable of carrying 1,175 people, and 1,125 lifejackets.

Twenty-one survivors found in a liferaft were brought into Rembang port late yesterday.

Seventeen rescued people arrived in Tuban early today and were treated for dehydration.

"They have not eaten for about two days. They were floating in the water for about 10 to 12 hours and then the boat couldn't get alongside because the waves were too strong,'' said Yuni, a nurse at Tuban hospital.

Five warships and two police ships resumed search and rescue operations today, ElShinta radio said. Rescue efforts were also bolstered by fishing boats and other private vessels, despite continuing bad weather.

Navy ships KRI Pulau Limau and KRI Bengkoang searched through the night but other vessels had had to return to port yesterday as waves five to six metres high hampered rescue efforts.

It is still not known exactly where the ferry sank but search efforts are concentrated in the seas between Surabaya and Semarang.

Officials said they lost contact with the ferry around midnight (1700 Friday GMT, 0400 Saturday AEDT).

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