At least 16 people have died after a fire broke out on an Indonesian ferry carrying 300 passengers.
More than a dozen people remain unaccounted for following the country's second major maritime disaster in as many months.
The pre-dawn fire started in a truck on the Levina 1's car deck, hours after the 2,000-ton vessel left the capital, Jakarta, for the northwestern island of Bangka, said port official Sato Bisri.
Aerial footage showed flames and heavy black smoke pouring from the 27-year-old ferry as authorities launched a massive rescue operation, plucking 275 survivors from the Java Sea and the ship's charred hull.
A cargo hand said a woman handed him her 18-month-old baby and then jumped overboard.
"I tried to scale a rope, but was knocked into the water by a falling passenger, still clutching the baby," said Heru, 29, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name. "I swam to a water cooler and then spotted the mother clinging to another cooler nearby
"The baby was crying 'Mama! Mama! and she insisted I hand over the child," he said, adding that 15 minutes later, large waves pulled them both under. "Now they're gone. I still haven't seen them."
Two warships, three helicopters, a tug boat and nine cargo ships were taking part in the rescue operations, scouring surrounding waters for more survivors, said Hambar Wiyadi, another port official.
"It was terrifying," said Yas Rijal, 33, who was with his wife and son on the upper deck when the fire broke out. "Suddenly flames bust from the lower deck. The crew ordered us to put on yellow life vests and we jumped."
Transportation Minister Hatta Rajasa told el-Shinta radio 15 bodies were recovered and that at least 275 people were rescued.
Rajasa said the ferry was carrying 300 passengers, but the ship's log indicated 228 passengers, 42 trucks and eight cars were on board. Tallies are often incomplete and boats overloaded.
In the vast nation of 17,000 islands, ferries are the cheapest and most popular form of public transportation. But safety standards are poor, leading to hundreds of deaths each year.
Indonesia has been hit by a string of transportation disasters in recent months.
In late December, a passenger ferry sank in a storm in the Java Sea, killing more than 400 people. Days later, a Boeing 737-400 passenger plane crashed into the ocean, killing all 102 people on board.
The accident occurred 50 miles north of Jakarta's port.