Indonesia ferry survivors found
By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, Jakarta
Twelve survivors from a ship that sank off the coast of Indonesia last week have been found clinging to an unmanned oil rig some 300km (186 miles) away.
Local officials say the survivors, all men, were brought ashore to the island of Java. Another six have been found on a nearby island.
Some 200 people have been recovered from the sea since the disaster in the early hours of Saturday morning.
But hundreds more remain unaccounted for.
Many are believed to be floating in lifeboats in the Java Sea.
Fading hopes
The thin stream of survivors brought ashore each day is dwindling to a trickle.
The search has now widened to a radius of several hundred kilometres as strong winds and stormy seas carry victims far away from the site of the disaster.
Rescue workers are being hampered by the bad weather as rough seas have led to a ban on all small boats setting sail.
The rescue effort is now focused on bringing in those survivors who have made it to dry land on their own, but officials believe time is running out for many of those spending their fifth day out at sea.
Reporters on a helicopter flight over the area described spotting three life rafts drifting in the water. All of them were empty.
The ship, the Senopati Nusantara, is believed to have sunk with at least 600 people on board but the exact number may never be known as many passengers board ferries such as this without a ticket.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6227093.stmPublished: 2007/01/03 09:26:36 GMT
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