Scores missing as ferry sinks in central Indonesia

Jakarta  - A ferry with 267 people on board sank in rough waters off the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi early Sunday, leaving scores missing and feared drowned, officials said.

Eighteen people were rescued from the sea, including a crew member, who told officials that the ship was engulfed by huge waves before it sank, said Ilham Rachman, an official at the port in West Sulawesi town of Majene.

But Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said in Jakarta that the ministry had received an unconfirmed report that 150 people had been rescued.

"We don't know for sure. We have not been unable to confirm this," he said.

Port official Ilham said the rescued crew member told rescuers the ship encountered a storm and giant waves.

"We haven't been able to get much information from them because they are still very weak and traumatized," he said about the survivors.

A search was underway involving Navy personnel and fishermen had been alerted to help with the rescue effort, he said.

The Teratai Prima ferry left the Sulawesi island harbour Pare-pare harbor Saturday evening en route to Samarinda in the eastern Kalimantan province on the Indonesian portion of Borneo Island, said Suhardi, an official at the Search and Rescue (SAR) agency in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi.

Relatives of the passengers gathered at the Samarinda port to seek news about their loved ones, Metro TV reported.

A woman wailed uncontrollably as her husband tried to console her, Metro TV showed.

Search and rescue officials said three of the survivors were picked up by local fishermen in the rough seas.

Port authorities in Pare-pare confirmed that the ill-fated ferry was carrying about 250 people and a crew of 17 when it left.

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.

Transportation ministry spokesman Bambang said the Teratai Prima was not overloaded and had undergone a routine check earlier this month. dpa

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