A Panamanian freighter and a Chinese fishing boat sunk within hours of each other in rough seas off eastern China, killing four sailors and leaving 55 missing, emergency officials reported yesterday.

 

Rescuers continued their search late yesterday for 31 sailors who were on the foreign-registered ship when it ran into rocks and sank near Fujian Province late Thursday night.

 

Two sailors were pulled from the sea alive by the Donghai Rescue Bureau, and four bodies were recovered, according to officials at the Shanghai-based operation.

 

The Panama-registered ship, the Heng Da 1, ran aground shortly before midnight Thursday, and the vessel quickly broke up and sank, rescuers said.

 

According to one survivors, electrician He Jinxiang, the freighter was carrying seafood to Indonesia.

 

"I clung tightly to two other crewmates after we were thrown into the sea," said the Liaoning Province native.

 

The three sailors were separated by strong waves, but He's life jacket kept him afloat until he was rescued eight hours later.

 

A helicopter and two rescue boats were searching the sea near Fujian Province last night for the rest of the missing crew.

 

In the other mishap, a Chinese fishing vessel with 27 people on board sank in the same area early yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported. Three sailors were rescued by another vessel, but the others remained missing last night as high winds and heavy seas hampered search efforts.

 

(Shanghai Daily February 18, 2006)