At least 16 sailors were missing after a South Korean ship sank following a collision with a Chinese vessel in waters off the east coast of China, officials and state press said Sunday.
The accident occurred when the South Korean vessel, the “Golden Rose”, collided with the Chinese container ship in Saturday’s early morning darkness and fog off the port of Yantai in Shandong province, Xinhua news agency said.
Seven of the crew were South Koreans, while the remaining members were from Myanmar and Indonesia, South Korean officials said.
“It was an early morning accident. I presume most of the crew were asleep in the cabins then,” Korean coast guard spokesman Kim Tae-Ho told AFP, adding a maritime search by China was ongoing.
Seoul’s foreign ministry has set up a taskforce to follow the accident, in cooperation with the South Korean and Chinese maritime authorities, officials said.
Rescuers have found two empty life rafts and some wreckage from the South Korean boat that was returning to its native country laden with 59 million tons of steel, Xinhua said. The cause of the collision was under investigation, it added. Chinese helicopters and rescue boats were scouring the site of the accident in search of survivors, it said.
Xinhua reported no damage to the Jinsheng, the Chinese ship in volved in the collision that was run by Shandong Lufeng Shipping Co. Ltd.
The Golden Rose had loaded its cargo in China’s northeastern province of Liaoning and was heading toward the South Korean port of Jeju, while the Chinese vessel had disembarked from Yantai and was headed toward the Liaoning port of Dalian at the time of the collision, the report said.
The accident occurred when the South Korean vessel, the “Golden Rose”, collided with the Chinese container ship in Saturday’s early morning darkness and fog off the port of Yantai in Shandong province, Xinhua news agency said.
Seven of the crew were South Koreans, while the remaining members were from Myanmar and Indonesia, South Korean officials said.
“It was an early morning accident. I presume most of the crew were asleep in the cabins then,” Korean coast guard spokesman Kim Tae-Ho told AFP, adding a maritime search by China was ongoing.
Seoul’s foreign ministry has set up a taskforce to follow the accident, in cooperation with the South Korean and Chinese maritime authorities, officials said.
Rescuers have found two empty life rafts and some wreckage from the South Korean boat that was returning to its native country laden with 59 million tons of steel, Xinhua said. The cause of the collision was under investigation, it added. Chinese helicopters and rescue boats were scouring the site of the accident in search of survivors, it said.
Xinhua reported no damage to the Jinsheng, the Chinese ship in volved in the collision that was run by Shandong Lufeng Shipping Co. Ltd.
The Golden Rose had loaded its cargo in China’s northeastern province of Liaoning and was heading toward the South Korean port of Jeju, while the Chinese vessel had disembarked from Yantai and was headed toward the Liaoning port of Dalian at the time of the collision, the report said.