One person has died and 102 have been rescued from a stricken Indonesian passenger ferry in the Java Sea, an official said.

A search and rescue operation was launched after contact was lost with the Virgo Transport 8 ship, which was carrying 243 people, as it encountered bad weather, Indonesia's search and rescue agency said.

The search for the remaining passengers is ongoing.

The ferry was travelling from Surabaya to the south Kalimantan city of Banjarmasin and was last reported to be about 150km south of Banjarmasin around 02:00 local time on Sunday.

Search and rescue ships and a helicopter have been deployed to the scene and all other vessels in that area of the Java Sea have been alerted to report signs of any passengers.

The incident comes after a separate ferry in Indonesia caught fire off Madura island last month, killing five.

The Indonesian archipelago has more than 17,000 islands and ferries are a common form of transport.

Indonesian authorities reported the Virgo Transport 8 lost contact in the Java Sea while enroute from Surabaya to Banjarmasin