Three Chinese sailors are missing after their freighter and a container vessel from the Republic of Korea (ROK) collided near Shanghai on Sunday, local authorities said Monday.

The accident occurred at about 8:10 PM on Sunday near the Wusong mouth of the Yangtze River, as the ROK vessel was leaving the Baoshan Container Harbor, a spokesman with the Shanghai Maritime Affairs Bureau said.

The Chinese freighter sank after the collision and five sailors aboard fell into water, two of whom were rescued, the spokesman said.

The bureau had dispatched more than 10 boats to search for the missing sailors and salvage the sunken ship, he said.

The Chinese freighter, carrying 3,000 tons of rolled steel, was heading from Nanjing to Shanghai when the accident happened, while the ROK vessel, with a capacity of more than 10,000 tons of containers, suffered minor damage and is lying at anchor.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2007)