Dozens of people are missing after a ferry carrying 65 people sank near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali.

On Thursday afternoon, authorities said four people had died, 31 survived and 30 were missing.

The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank about half an hour after leaving East Java’s Ketapang port just after midnight on Thursday (local time), Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said.

It was bound for the port of Gilimanuk in Bali, 50 kilometres away.

The Balinese port of Gilimanuk is about 50 kilometres from Ketapang. Image: Google Maps

The ferry was reported to be carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew as well as 22 vehicles at the time. The cause of the sinking is under investigation.

A search for the missing was hampered by strong currents and winds, said the National Search and Rescue Agency.

There has been no official statement on the nationalities of the passengers, but a manifest list broadcast by news channel MetroTV indicated no foreigners were on board.

Banyuwangi police chief Rama Samtama Putra said two bodies had been recovered. Many who were rescued were unconscious after spending hours drifting in choppy seas.

Nine vessels, including two tugboats and two inflatables, were sent to the area on Thursday to help with the search.

Crews used onboard lighting systems to conduct operations during the darkness, as they battled waves up to two metres high.

Ferries are a common mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and accidents are common as lax safety standards often allow vessels to be overloaded without adequate life-saving equipment.

A small ferry capsized in 2023 near Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 15 people.