Boat sinks off Indonesian coast, 30 missing

JAKARTA, Oct 25 (Reuters) Thirty people are missing after an Indonesian sailboat sprang a leak and sank today off the island of Sulawesi, a rescue official said.

Rescue teams were searching the seas for the missing people in the seas near Kendari city in Southeast Sulawesi, Roksi Asikin told Reuters.

''The weather is friendly. We have good visibility and we have deployed six boats to look for them,'' Asikin said.

The safety record of Indonesian passenger ships and ferries, widely used to connect the thousands of islands in the archipelago, is poor with vessels frequently overloaded and in poor condition.

Last week, a ship that might have been overloaded with passengers capsized off the island of Sulawesi, killing around 30 people and leaving many missing.

Reuters AK VP0735