Updated at 4.45 pm
JAKARTA: More than 850 people are missing after an Indonesian ferry capsized off the coast of central Java, officials and reports said on Saturday.
The ferry, which left the port of Kumai in Central Kalimantan province en route to Semarang in Central Java sank at around midnight (1700 GMT Friday) in the Java Sea, near Mandalika island off the Java coast.
"I received the news at 4 this morning, but rescue efforts have been hampered because of bad weather. Nine people have been rescued so far," transport minister Hatta Rajasa said on ElShinta radio.
MetroTV news quoted a Kumai port authority official, Suyatno, as saying that contact was lost with the "Senopati", which had 542 passengers on board, sometime before midnight.
Ferries are a crucial link between the archipelago nation's 17,000 islands and frequently carry more people than officially acknowledged. Boats are also often overloaded due to lax safety standards.
