The meteorological agency had warned of bad weather in the area but Mr Djamal said port authorities cleared the ferry to sail and conditions were fair when it left.

'We will investigate thoroughly why the captain decided to go,' the minister said, adding that 22 survivors had been found so far, while 245 were missing.

Mr Djamal denied the ferry had been overloaded.

The disaster was the latest in a series of accidents in the country, where rusty, old ferries are often the cheapest means of inter-island transport.

Maxensius Tri Sambodo, an expert from the Indonesian Institute of Science, said both the public and the ferry operators did not take the issue of safety seriously enough.

'Most passengers are not aware of the security regulations or do not demand them, while providers often do not bother to enforce the regulations and pack more and more people onto the ships to maximise revenue,' he said.

In Indonesia, once a ship is registered, it is registered for life, and there are no enforced follow-up checks.

Vessels are often overloaded because of lax safety standards, and bribes are often paid to officials to allow ships to sail even if they are not safe to do so.

Safety equipment is rarely up to the legal standards, and owners often lock life jackets away, claiming they would be stolen otherwise.

Danang Parikesit, researcher at Gadjah Mada University's Centre for Transportation and Logistics Studies, said that the design of ships was another problem.

'Each area of the archipelago has different waves. But, although the design of the ferries often does not match the type of waves, authorities let them sail anyway,' he said.

In February 2007, the Levina I ferry caught fire off the northern coast of Jakarta, killing 42 of its 330 passengers. Three days later, four more people died as the ship capsized when investigators and journalists went aboard to inspect it.

In late 2006, 400 people died when the MV Senopati Nusantara ferry sank off the northern coast of Central Java.

Indonesia also has big problems with its air and rail transport systems. Two major air disasters in 2007 prompted the European Union to ban all Indonesian airlines from flying over Europe, while disasters often occur on the ageing rail network.

The Ministry of Transport has estimated that Indonesia needs a minimum investment of 25 trillion rupiah (HK$17.6 billion) a year over the next decade to overhaul its transport system.