SEMARANG, Indonesia (AP) – Navy ships searched into the night Saturday for survivors from a crowded Indonesian ferry that sunk off Java island during a violent storm, leaving the vast majority of the nearly 640 passengers still missing.

Nearly 24 hours after the disaster, just 59 survivors had been found, most drifting in lifeboats or clinging to driftwood, officials said. No bodies had been recovered.

Witnesses reported seeing lifeboats carrying more survivors, the transport minister said, and one person on board the ferry said most people had time to put on life jackets. Other survivors reported panicked passengers fighting over life jackets as the Senopati capsized close to midnight Friday after being pounded by heavy waves for more than 10 hours.

“The crew kept saying ‘relax, relax,’ but it was clear the ship was not stable,” Irfan Setiawan told Metro TV station. “It suddenly veered to one side and the TV and fridges fell over.”

Setiawan said he was hit by a piece of debris and sank with the ship, but fought his way to the surface and managed to climb onto a lifeboat along with about 30 other people.

Others clung on to pieces of wood or to swim to nearby islands in tropical waters between 72 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another survivor, Budi Susilo, said he saw three people drown after losing their grip on an upturned raft.

“We told them to hold on, but they ran out of energy,” he told reporters after arriving at port on Java island late Saturday.

Four naval ships, several other vessels and at least two aircraft were combing the area Saturday, but poor visibility and heavy seas hindered their search. Two naval vessels were continuing the search through the night.

Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said late Saturday after talks with rescue officials that 638 passengers and crew were on board the 16-year-old Japanese-built vessel, which had a capacity to hold 850 passengers.

Radjasa said the vessel was in good condition when it set sail and that bad weather was the likely cause of the accident.

The ferry was on the final leg of a 48-hour journey from the island of Borneo to the main island of Java when waves of up to 16 feet crashed over its deck, said Slamet Bustam, an official at Semarang port, the ferry’s destination, where hundreds of distraught relatives and friends waited for news about their loved ones.

“We’re afraid many have died,” Bustam said.

The ferry ran into trouble off Mandalika island, some 190 miles northeast of the capital, Jakarta. In a final radio contact, the captain informed port authorities that the ship was severely damaged and capsizing, said local navy commander Col. Yan Simamora.

“We all just prayed as the waves got higher,” said another passenger, Cholid, who survived by clinging to wooden planks.

“I was going upstairs to try to help my daughter, but the ship suddenly broke up and I was thrown out. I lost her,” said Cholid, who gave only a single name.

Worried family members gathered at the main office of ferry operator PT Prima Fista, weeping and demanding details about the fate of their loved ones.

“I am waiting for my mother, auntie, sister and nephew who were on their way to celebrate New Year’s Eve at my house,” said Yulis, 25.

Seasonal storms have wreaked havoc across Indonesia in recent days, unleashing flash floods and landslides that have killed more than 145 people and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes on Sumatra.

Earlier Friday, a different vessel carrying around 100 people capsized in bad weather off the coast of northwestern Sumatra, killing three and leaving 26 missing presumed dead, Radjasa said.

Ships in Indonesia often carry far more passengers than recorded, making it hard for authorities to say with accuracy how many people are on board. Earlier, officials and media reports put the number on board at more than 800.

Ferries are a main source of transportation in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands with a population of 220 million. Overcrowding and poorly enforced safety standards mean accidents are common.

In 2000, almost 500 people died when a ferry carrying Christians fleeing religious violence in the eastern Maluku islands capsized. A year later, 350 were killed when a boat carrying asylum seekers from Iraq and Afghanistan sank after setting sail from Java to Australia.

—

Associated Press Writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta.

AP-ES-12-30-06 1309EST