At least 23 people were killed and 17 others were missing after a ferry caught fire on Sunday off the coast of Indonesia's capital, officials said.

The vessel was carrying more than 230 people from Jakarta's port of Muara Angke to Tidung, a resort island in the Kepulauan Seribu chain, when it caught fire, officials said. Most of the passengers were Indonesians celebrating the New Year's holiday, according to local media reports.

Seply Madreta, an official from the local Disaster Mitigation Agency, said the fire gutted around half the ship. He said that about 22 injured victims were rushed to hospitals, and that 23 bodies had been recovered.

A search involving around 10 ships was underway to find those who were missing, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said in a statement.

Witnesses told Metro TV that the fire broke out about 15 minutes after the ship left Muara Angke.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Some passengers told local media that they first saw smoke coming from the ferry's engine.

"Most of the victims were found near the exit door at the front part of the ship. They may have attempted to escape the fires," said Hendra Sudirman, acting head of Jakarta's search and rescue office.