Indon boat sinking: search for 76 missing

Authorities remain hopeful that a search for passengers on board the ill-fated boat that sank off Sulawesi island will find more survivors.

An Indonesian woman checks the passenger list of a capsized ferry

41 people have been rescued but 74 people are still missing after a boat sank in Indonesia. (AAP)

Search ships and rescue helicopters have joined the search for at least 76 people still missing after a boat sank off Indonesia's Sulawesi island.

At least 39 people have been found alive and three others died after the accident in Bone Bay on Saturday, said Alamsyah, the head of the local disaster management agency.

Local officials had said earlier that 41 people had been found alive.

Three ships and two helicopters were now involved in the search, Alamsyah said on Monday.

A crew member who survived told local media that large waves damaged the Marina Baru's hull three hours after it departed from the port.

"It happened about 13 miles from Siwa and we could already see the shore," Ambo Masse was quoted as saying by Tempo.co news website.

"As the ship began sinking, we evacuated all the passengers, because the damage could not be fixed," he said.

One group of passengers was on their way to a wedding when the ship sank.

Two relatives who survived after floating for hours at sea said they had seven other family members on board, Kompas.com news website reported.

The search for the victims has been hampered by choppy waters, with waves as high as five metres, officials said.

"The weather fluctuates," said Frans Barung, a police spokesman in South Sulawesi province. "It was good earlier today but now the seas are high."

Alamsyah said the sunken ship was located 22km from the port in the town of Siwa at a depth of about 200m, but inadequate equipment prevented rescue workers from reaching it.

He said officials were checking unconfirmed reports from residents that some of the survivors had washed ashore.

"There's still hope we'll find more survivors," said Alamsyah, who goes by one name.

Searchers also found an inflated life raft with emergency supplies drifting in the sea with no people on it, he said.

The fibreglass ship was carrying 118 people, including 10 crew members. It departed Saturday morning from Kolaka in North Sulawesi for Siwa, on what should have been a six-hour journey.

Local authorities received a distress call from the ship at 3.45pm (0745 GMT) Saturday, as it neared its destination.


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Source: AAP


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