Around 140 passengers are missing from a cruise ship that vanished in the waters near Indonesia. The ship lost contact in the Java Sea with 240 people on board while travelling from East Java to South Kalimantan on Borneo island. It is understood the cruise ship was caught up in bad weather.
Rescue efforts underway
Rescuers launched an urgent search on Sunday to locate the ship, the Mirror reports. At least 102 passengers have since been rescued and the body of one passenger has been located. More than one hundred people are still missing.
The ship's captain had earlier reported rough seas with waves of 10ft before issuing a distress signal. Authorities later received information indicating the vessel had overturned.
Ship identified as Virgo Transport 8
The Search and Rescue Office in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province, said they received a report that the Virgo Transport 8 experienced a communication failure while en route to the city from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java province. Initial information indicated the vessel's last known position was in the Java Sea, about 148km (92 miles) from a pier in Banjarmasin.
Recent earthquake in the region
It comes after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Java, Indonesia in the Banda Sea near Indonesia's Maluku Island. The quake occurred at a depth of 143km (89 miles) and had no tsunami potential, according to Indonesia's geophysics agency.
"Taking into account the location of the epicentre and the depth of its hypocentre, the earthquake was a deep earthquake caused by intraslab activity," he said in a statement, adding that tsunami modelling showed no tsunami threat.
