One dead, 102 rescued from ferry off Java island

One person has died and 102 were rescued on Sunday from a ferry that went missing off of the Indonesian island of Java, rescue officials said.

The vessel, which was carrying 243 people, had been sailing between the islands of Java and Borneo when it encountered bad weather.

"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. We can inform you that the total number of evacuated passengers is 103 people," local search and rescue chief I Putu Sudayana told reporters, adding that one of the passengers had died.

Sudayana said rescuers faced waves of up to 2.5 metres as they fought to reach the ferry amid "extremely risky" conditions for vessels.

"Even our Basarnas vessel, which is 40 meters long, is at great risk," he said, referring to Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency.

It comes after a speedboat carrying eight people, including five journalists covering the recent eruption of Indonesia's Mount Anak Krakatoa, went missing earlier this week. The search for the vessel remains ongoing.

The Southeast Asian nation is made up of more than 17,000 islands, with boats providing a common and important form of transport.