Jakarta  - Fighting high waves and bad weather, rescuers resumed their search Monday as more than 200 people remained missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi the day before.

Raden Arsono, an official at the Search and Rescue (SAR) agency in the South Sulawesi capital Makassar, said so far only 20 survivors had been found after two other survivors were reportedly picked up by local fishermen Monday morning, leaving 248 people missing and feared drowned.

The Teratai Prima ferry left Pare-pare on Sulawesi island in central Indonesia on Saturday evening for Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The boat sank at dawn Sunday off the coast of Majene in West Sulawesi after being bit by waves as high as 4-metres during bad weather, survivors claim.

The search operation were backed a number of ships, including two Navy vessels, a Boeing aircraft belonging to the Indonesian Air Force as well as SAR vessels and fishing boats, Arsono said.

"But high sea waves and bad weather hampered the operation," Arsono said by telephone.

On Sunday, Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said the ministry had received an unconfirmed report that 150 people had been taken off the ferry, but he gave no further details.

However, Arsono said so far he could not confirm the report.

It was the latest in a series of sea disasters in recent years in Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands that depends on ocean transport.

In December 2006 a ship with 638 people on board sank off East Java province. Only 230 people survived.

Indonesian passenger ferries and ships generally have poor safety records and also frequently take on more than the permitted number of passengers and cargo.

Bambang said the Teratai Prima was not overloaded and had undergone a routine check earlier this month. (dpa)