10 Chinese still missing after fishing boat collision off S Korea

Rescuers search for a fishing boat that sank in the East China Sea, Jan. 23, 2015. Three people were saved from a fishing boat that sank in the East China Sea after colliding with another vessel on Thursday night, leaving another ten people on board unaccounted for. (Xinhua)

Ten Chinese fishermen remained missing on Monday afternoon after a Chinese fishing boat collided with an unidentified cargo ship Friday in seas near South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju, the island's coast guard and safety agency said.

As of 3:00 p.m. local time Monday, no missing people was found in waters some 160 km south of an uninhabited island near Jeju, after the 138-ton fishing boat sank Friday morning when the cargo ship crashed into the flank of the boat, a Jeju coast guard official told Xinhua via phone.

The official said Chinese and South Korean vessels and airplanes conducted intense search operations for those unaccounted for until Sunday, but there remained a South Korean patrol ship and two Chinese public vessels on Monday searching for the missing.

Until Sunday, South Korea dispatched two coast guard vessels and two aircraft to the site, while China sent five public ships there. Five Chinese fishing boats also helped the rescue efforts.

Among 13 crew members aboard the sunken boat, three were saved by other fishing boats sailing near the site on Friday morning, but 10 others, including a captain and a chief engineer, have been unaccounted for.

The fishing boat was carrying 10 tons of fish and 30,000 liters of oil.