Rescuers have evacuated 35 passengers and crews of the ship that sank in waters of central Indonesia on Monday morning, head of the port at Parepare of South Sulawesi Yetasa Sarita said on Tuesday.

"The number of victims has been found alive is 35, five of them the crews of the ship," Sarita told Xinhua from Parepare by phone.

According to manifestation, over 250 passengers and 17 crews were on board the Teratai ship, he said.

The search for those missing involved five naval war ships, small planes and a number of sailor ships on Tuesday, said Sarita.

A survivor as quoted by a local television said that a typhoon caused huge waves that smashed the ship from its left side and sank it before dawn Monday when people were sleeping soundly.

"I jumped to the sea, but there were many passengers who were sleeping inside the ship when the ship was sunk," he said.

The Teratai ship, departed from port at Parepare town of South Sulawesi province on 19:45 local time Saturday toward Smarinda of East Kalimantan province, sank 30 miles (50 kilometers) off western Sulawes.

Ship is a favorite transport mean in the archipelago country with over 17,000 islands, but poor safety standard has often been blamed for the rampant accidents.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2009)