Jakarta - Bad weather hampered the search for dozens of people missing Monday after an overloaded ferry sank in rough seas off the Indonesian island of Sumatra the day before, officials said. "High waves and strong winds hampered rescue teams to conduct the search operation," said Lieutenant Colonel Edwin, a Navy officer leading the search mission.
He said the search operation was backed by three Navy ships, a Navy helicopter, rescue boats and other rescue vessels navigating waves as high as 4 metres.
Edwin, who like many Indonesians uses only by one name, said rescuers picked up one more survivor from the sea, who was in critical condition after floating for about 27 hours.
By midday Monday, rescue teams recovered a total of 255 survivors and 27 bodies, while about 12 other people were still missing and feared drowned, Edwin said.
Other officials said 29 bodies had been retrieved. Rustam Pakaya from the Health Ministry's crisis centre said at least 17 other people were still missing.
According to the ferry's manifest, the Dumai Express 10 was carrying 228 passengers, including 15 children, as well as 14 crew when it sank on Sunday on its way from Batam near Singapore to Dumai in Riau, Sumatra.
But rescue officials said many passengers, including children, were not listed on the manifest. Overcrowding is common on Indonesian ferries.
Oktafinus, an official at Riau's port, said many passengers were trapped inside the ferry which sank in about 32 metres of water.
Another ferry, the Dumai Express 15, with 278 people on board, ran aground after it was hit by large waves on its way from Batam also on Sunday. All passengers and crew survived that accident, said Sunaryo, director general of sea transport.
Hundreds have been killed in ferry accidents in Indonesia in recent years. The vessels are often overcrowded, and safety regulations are poorly enforced.
The vast country is comprised of more than 17,000 islands and boats are a popular and relatively inexpensive form of transport.
