Search and rescue vessels were at the scene and a helicopter was conducting surveillance from the air.
Hariyadi earlier said there were no passengers or crew left on the blazing ferry.
There was no immediate information on people injured or missing.
Five people died last week when a ferry caught fire off Java island.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia – an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that relies heavily on boat connections for daily transport and tourism.
Lax safety standards and unpredictable weather are the main reasons for the disasters.
A ferry transporting more than 70 people sank while sailing near Selayar, a small island south of Sulawesi, last month.
Four bodies were recovered, but the search operation ended with 14 others still officially missing.