Indonesia Sends Warships to Help Look for 70 After Boat Sank

Indonesian police officers scan the horizon from the deck of a rescue ship during a search operation for dozens of people still missing after a ferry sank off Sulawesi Island on Saturday, in Bone Straits, Indonesia.

Indonesian navy will dispatch warships to join the search for 70 people still missing after a passenger boat sank Saturday in central Indonesia, officials said Wednesday.

The Marina Baru carrying 118 passengers and crewmen sank in the Gulf of Bone while on its way from Kolaka in Southeast Sulawesi province to Siwa town in South Sulawesi province.

Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said the navy will dispatch warships to the area where nine ships and 15 fishing boats are already searching for the victims.

A helicopter and a CN-235 aircraft are searching from the air while soldiers and police were combing the coastline, Soelistyo said.

The head of the local disaster mitigation agency, Alamsyah, said rescuers have discovered 41 survivors and seven dead.

The last recovered survivor was the boat's captain, who was found Monday snagged on a fishing platform, while the last four dead were discovered on Tuesday, added Alamsyah, who uses a single name.

The fiberglass ferry reportedly sank after being overwhelmed by waves more than 3 meters (10 feet) high during stormy weather.

Boats are a popular and relatively cheap form of transportation in the world's largest archipelago nation which spans more than 17,000 islands with a population of 256 million. Sea accidents are common, with boats often overcrowded and safety regulations poorly enforced.