(VOVworld) - On Wednesday the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency recovered 16 more bodies from a passenger boat that sank near the island of Sulawesi, bringing the death toll in the incident to 23.

Indonesian rescuers are searching for missing people from the Marina Baru boat offshore. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The Indonesian navy plans to send warships to join the search for 54 people still missing.

Bambang Soelistyo, chief of the rescue force, said the Indonesian navy will dispatch warships to the area where 24 ships and fishing boats are already searching for the missing victims.

A helicopter and a CN-235 aircraft are searching from the air while soldiers and police are combing the coastline.

The Marina Baru ship, carrying 118 passengers and crewmen, sank on its way from Kolaka in Southeast Sulawesi province to Siwa town in South Sulawesi province last Saturday.

The ship was reportedly overwhelmed by waves more than 4 meters high during stormy weather.