REMBANG, Indonesia — Rescue ships collected scores of bloated bodies yesterday from seas close to where a ferry sank in the Java Sea, but search teams also spotted survivors on life rafts and dropped food and water to them, officials said.

Weeping relatives camped out at ports and a local hospital, desperate for news of the some 400 still missing from the ferry when it sank during a violent storm minutes before midnight Friday.

So far, at least 191 people have been found alive, either packed into lifeboats, clinging on to debris, or on beaches after swimming ashore, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa told reporters. Dozens of bodies have either been spotted or collected. Mr. Radjasa said the search for survivors would continue for at least a week.

Since the ferry went down, officials, hampered by poor communication and the fact that ships are bringing survivors to shore at several ports, have given differing numbers of people saved and bodies collected. The ferry had a capacity of 850 people, but the manifest indicated 638 passengers.

“I am tired of crying,” Sipan, who goes by a single name and who had been staying at Rembang hospital waiting for news of his son, said. “Dead or alive, I will accept his destiny. It is up to God. All I can do is keep waiting.”