The fishing boat, Lu Rong Yu 58398 from Shandong province, had 19 people on board when the accident happened at 3:40 am yesterday, state-owned Xinhua cited sources from headquarters of the East Sea Fleet as saying.
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Chinese authorities are questioning the crew of a Maltese-flagged ship that collided with a Chinese fishing boat over the weekend, killing at least two sailors and leaving 17 others missing.
Thirty-one people are missing after two fishing boats capsized and another went missing off China’s eastern coast, news reports say.
A search and rescue operation is underway, but it has been hampered by low visibility and strong winds.
The incident occurs as China’s pursuit of wide-ranging territorial claims in the East and South China Seas raises regional tensions. “The rescue vessels are in two groups and have completed searching in waters 15 nautical miles round the crash site and will continue search effort in expanded areas”.
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Local Chinese maritime authorities have ordered the bulk carrier to return for investigation.
