Three of five Chinese sailors missing after a ship sank on Tuesday afternoon off the coast of India were rescued Wednesday after drifting at sea for more than 20 hours.

The five crewmembers of the Malaysian ship Genius Star VI were feared drowned when only 12 of the 17 Chinese on board were rescued.

The ship, bound for Calcutta, sank in the high seas off the West Bengal coast about 190 kilometers southeast of the town of Haldia.

The three sailors were in good physical condition when rescued at about 2:10 PM, the Chinese Embassy in India quoted coast guard Commandant R.K. Wadhwa as saying.

The coast guard was still hoping to find the other two missing sailors.

Genius Star, which was about 96 meters in length, set sail from Malaysia on April 6 with 6,000 tons of logs, according to the Indian media.

Around 8:30 AM on Tuesday, the ship's captain noticed a leak in the hull through which water was rushing. The crew tried in vain to plug the leak.

Around 9:00 AM, the captain radioed an SOS to the coast guard at Haldia.

"It was clear to us that the vessel was in big trouble. We swung into action, but the ship was some distance from here and there was little we could do immediately, apart from asking other vessels on the route to help," said Wadhwa.

But no other ships were nearby. The coast guard vessel Varha left Haldia soon after, as did Razia Sultana from Paradip, about 300 kilometers southeast of Haldia. An aircraft was also pressed into action.

Around 11:00, the pilot reported that part of Genius Star was already underwater.

"It seems that the vessel is sinking fast," the pilot said over the radio.

With little time left, the coast guard located South Korean merchant vessel MV Tonghai, about 50 kilometers from the sinking ship.

"We requested the South Korean vessel to rush to the aid of the Malaysian ship and try and rescue its crewmembers," explained Wadhwa.

At 12:30 PM, the pilot of the coast guard plane circling the region radioed a message saying that the ship could no longer be seen.

"We knew then that the worst had happened and the ship had sunk," Wadhwa said.

About two hours later, the South Korean vessel sent a message to the coast guard saying that five Genius Star crewmen had been pulled out. There was no trace of the rest.

More vessels took part in the search-and-rescue operation, which continued into the evening. Seven sailors were located using powerful searchlights and pulled from the sea.

Since 2000, half a dozen ships have sunk off the Haldia port.

(China Daily April 15, 2004)