Scores rescued but 400 missing from sunken ferry

RESCUE boats have picked up scores of exhausted survivors from an Indonesian ferry that sank in the Java Sea, but they also recovered dozens of bodies and around 400 people remain missing.

A fleet of navy ships, fishing vessels and aircraft has been scouring a large section of the central Indonesian coastline since the Senopati Nusantara capsized around midnight on Friday after being pounded by heavy waves for 10 hours.

Authorities had found 177 survivors who were either clinging to pieces of wood, packed into life rafts, or on beaches after swimming ashore, the state news agency Antara quoted a transport department official named Soeharto as saying.

At least 66 bodies had also been found, said Soeharto, who goes by one name, like many Indonesians.

Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said a helicopter dropped food and water to a group of around 30 survivors in three rafts while boats tried to reach them.

Survivors recounted the horror of the ship’s last minutes, when the crew told passengers, many of them praying or screaming, to put on life vests.

“The wave was so high and the ship’s crew told us not to panic,” Bekti Riwayati said. “But we were panicked and the ship went down. It took two hours to sink.”

Dozens of relatives were gathered at Semarang seaport, desperate for news of loved ones. Naval ships, police boats, commercial vessels and helicopters have been combing the area where the ship last made radio contact with port authorities.