Three people were missing when their boat hit a ship and sank in waters off Ningbo City of east China's Zhejiang Province early Saturday, the local government said.

The accident happened shortly after midnight, the city government of Ningbo said in a press release.

Of the five people on the boat, two were saved and the other three remained missing Saturday afternoon, it said.

The three missing included a woman and two men, according to the two survivors who are being treated at the No. 3 People's Hospital in Ningbo. All five are natives of Taizhou City in Zhejiang Province.

No damage was done to the ship, which was registered in Zhoushan, a port city in Zhejiang, and was carrying building material from the eastern Fujian Province to Ningbo.

The Ningbo maritime bureau sent three patrol yachts and divers to the rescue operation.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.