Emergency crews have recovered eight bodies of sailors who went overboard when their ship sank off east China after its collision with another ship late Saturday night.

 

Twelve sailors have been rescued and the other nine are still missing, sources with the maritime safety administration of Zhejiang Province revealed on Sunday.

 

The collision occurred around 11 PM Saturday near the Langgang islands, northeast of Zhoushan Island, Zhejiang Province, when a cargo ship belonging to a transport company in Shenzhen crashed with another transport vessel from Hong Kong.

 

The Hong Kong ship, Huirong, sank immediately and all its 29 sailors on board were marooned at sea. The crew of the second ship, Pengyan, belonging to Shenzhen Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd., escaped unharmed.

 

The Zhejiang maritime safety administration immediately activated an emergency plan to rescue the sailors after it received a report of the accident, said an official with the administration.

 

More than 40 vessels and three helicopters from the East China Sea Fleet, East China Sea Rescue Bureau, and local maritime safety authorities in Zhejiang have joined the rescue efforts.

 

Minister of Communications Li Shenglin and Vice Minister Weng Mengyong arrived at the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center to direct the rescue operation.

 

Rescuers are still searching for the missing, and the cause of the collision is under investigation.

 

Meanwhile, workers have begun to clear oil leaking into the sea and set location markers for the Hong Kong ship.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2007)