Seven crew members are missing after two construction ships collided during a gale off north China's Tianjin municipality on Wednesday.

The accident happened at about 7:45 AM., when two ships off a refinery of the Dagang Oilfield with 37 on board were moved by high wind, bumped into a dam and then collided.

Twenty-two of the crew members were saved from the sea by helicopters and eight others were picked up by other vessels. None of them were seriously injured, according to sources with the Tianjin maritime safety administration.

Rescuers are still searching for the seven missing.

Gales at speeds of 62 to 75 kilometers per hour which stirred up the tide as tall as 4.92 meters brought troubles to people near the sea.

Separately, 13 workers from a coastal highway construction site in the city were trapped by flooding sea water at about 7:20 AM. They waited on top of the trunks until being rescued half an hour later.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2009)