Indonesian Java Sea ferry lost contact due to bad weather, 103 people rescued, 1 dead, 140 missing

(Central News Agency, Jakarta, comprehensive foreign news report on the 13th) An Indonesian ferry carrying 243 passengers and crew encountered bad weather in the Java Sea earlier today and lost contact. So far, 103 people have been evacuated, one of them died, and 140 others are missing.

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) stated that the "Virgo Transport 8" ferry departed from Surabaya in East Java on the 12th and was originally scheduled to go to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. It lost contact with the outside world early this morning due to poor weather.

I Putu Sudayana, director of the Bangama City Office of the Search and Rescue Administration, said in a video statement that 103 people had been evacuated using different ships, and some were sent to ports in East Java.

He said search and rescue teams, boats and helicopters were dispatched to the ferry's last known location, but he did not specify its current condition.

Sudayana earlier told AFP that the captain had reported that the ferry was "listing" before contact was lost.

The ship was last detected in the Java Sea, about 150 kilometers from its destination.