Six Chinese sailors were missing after their fishing boat collided with a South Korean bulk cargo ship on waters 175 km south off South Korea's Mara island, South Korea's Coast Guard said Monday.

"Two crew members of the fishing boat were rescued by the cargoship while the rescued sailors are in good health," said Kim Hyung-wook, officer of the Korea Coast Guard's Jeju Bureau.

According to Kim, the accident occurred at 08:45 a.m. Monday local time (2345 GMT Sunday) when the Chinese fishing boat "LujiaoYu" collided with South Korea's 16,400-ton Panbless cargo ship. The cargo ship rescued two Chinese sailors but failed to find the rest crew members missing with the sunken boat.

"The cargo reported that the weather condition in the area was bad due to heavy fog," Kim told Xinhua through telephone.

It was the second such accident between Chinese fishing boats and South Korea's cargo ships on the East China Sea.

On last Saturday, Chinese fishing boat "Zhepuyu 368" sank after collided with South Korea's 6,049-ton cargo ship "Bright Ace" on waters 370 km south off South Korea's southern most island of Mara, leaving 5 Chinese sailors missing while two others rescued.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2008)