Seven people are missing after a Chinese fishing boat hit an Iranian cargo ship and sank in waters off east China's Zhejiang Province early Friday, the local maritime authority said.

The accident happened at 5:30 a.m. off the port city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Provincial Maritime Bureau said in a press release.

Of the eight people on the fishing boat, only the pilot, Chen Nanchu, a native of Zhejiang, was rescued.

At least 10 vessels and a helicopter were searching for the seven missing fishermen, of whom five were from Zhejiang, one from Sichuan and one from Yunnan, said the statement.

The Iranian cargo ship, Pantea, was en route from the United Arab Emirates to Nantong, in east China's Jiangsu Province.

The provincial weather bureau said winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour were reported in the area when the accident happened.

Maritime safety authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.