Indonesia ship with hundreds aboard sinks-navy

JAKARTA, Dec 30 (Reuters) A ferry with at least 600 aboard sank in bad weather during the night as it travelled between Borneo and Java islands, Indonesian navy officials said today.

The sinking is the second ferry disaster in as many days in Indonesia after a vessel sank on Thursday in rough seas off Sumatra island.

High seas and bad weather were hampering rescue efforts in the Java Sea, the Navy officials said, but 26 survivors had been found so far.

''The latest development (is) we have found 26 people.

Seventeen were secured by fishermen and nine others by a small navy ship,'' Toni Syaiful, a Navy spokesman in the East Java city of Surabaya, said by telephone.

''They have been taken to Bawean island. They wore lifejackets,'' he said.

Bawean is 663 kilometres (412 miles) east of Jakarta, in the Java Sea.

Central Java Navy commander Colonel Yan Simamora told Elshinta news radio the ship, the ''Senopati'', had been travelling between Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province on Borneo to Central Java province on the country's main island.

''The ship sank about midnight last night,'' he said, adding that it was difficult to evacuate the survivors because of bad weather.

''We got confirmation from the ship owner that the 'Senopati' ship carried 542 passengers (based on tickets sold) and 63 crew,'' Navy spokesman Syaiful said.

Earlier figures from officials and media ranged from 500 to 850 on board.

Indonesian vessels often carry passengers not listed on the official manifests. It is also not unusual for early information on disasters to vary among agencies and officials.

Communications infrastructure is sometimes poor and more than one bureaucracy can have responsibility for collecting data.

Helicopters, three navy vessels and one police ship were involved in rescue efforts, Simamora said.

Riyadi, the operations chief for Search and Rescue in Semarang, Central Java, told Reuters by telephone that waves six metres (20 feet) high were making it difficult to get to the site.

Initial information received early on Saturday was that the ship was leaking, he said.

Ships and ferries are a popular means of transport among Indonesia's 17,000 islands, where sea connections are cheaper and more available than air routes.

However, safety standards are not always enforced, and accidents occur fairly often.

Rescue efforts were also underway today for passengers on a ferry that capsized off Sumatra island on Thursday night during bad weather.

''From 51 passengers, we have found four bodies and 28 people been secured. We are searching for 14 others,'' said Abu Sopha Ibrahim, spokesman for South Sumatra police.

REUTERS AB DS1406