Twelve people were feared dead after their ship sank in the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, Monday evening, local maritime authorities in the eastern Jiangsu Province said.

"Pengxiang 9" registered in the northern port city of Tianjin, sank in the Zhangjiagang section of the Yangtze River at 7:25 p.m., after a collision with motor vessel "Jintai 618", a spokesman with the maritime rescue center of Zhangjiagang City confirmed.

Fourteen people were on board "Pengxiang 9", of whom only two were rescued Monday night.

Maritime authorities imposed a traffic ban in the section and searched for the missing through the night. But none of the missing people had been found as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.