Indonesian ferry capsizes in Java Sea; 129 missing, six dead

At least six people have died and 129 others remain unaccounted for after a passenger ship capsized in the Java Sea early on Sunday amid bad weather, Indonesia's search and rescue agency said.

Rescuers pulled 108 people from the vessel, the Virgo Transport 8, and continued to comb the area for survivors, the agency added.

The ship had departed Surabaya, a city in East Java, on Saturday carrying 243 people, including 30 crew members, according to the agency. It was bound for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when it lost contact with authorities.

A passing helicopter reported that the vessel had overturned, Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said at a press conference. He said the cause of the incident was still under investigation. The search and rescue agency had earlier described the ship as having sunk.

In Banjarmasin, relatives of those aboard gathered to await word on the passengers. One woman, who identified herself as Putri, said she had been speaking with her husband Herman by phone before the call dropped.

"Then after that there was no more contact, we couldn't reach him," she said.

I Putu Sudayana, who heads the rescue agency's Banjarmasin office, said in a video statement that survivors had been transferred to other ships, with some to be taken to a port in East Java.

The incident underscores the country's heavy dependence on sea transport. Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, relies on ferries for travel, with sea routes seen as more affordable and more readily available than air links.