Rescuers were searching Thursday for 38 people missing in rough seas overnight after a ferry sank near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali.

The ferry sank almost half an hour after leaving Ketapang port in the East Java town of Banyuwangi late Wednesday, bound for Bali's Gilimanuk port, a 30-mile trip.

A search for the missing is underway although it is being hampered by strong currents and winds, the agency said, adding it had deployed a helicopter to the location and 13 underwater rescuers.