A Chinese cargo ship saved 20 foreigners from a sinking ship Friday in the seawaters around the Luzon Island in the Philippines.

The 20 foreigners, 10 from South Korea and 10 from the Philippines, are in a good condition, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) said yesterday.

A cargo ship of the Qingdao Ocean Shipping Company under the COSCO received SOS signals on its way back from Australia Friday morning and it found a sinking ship at 12:20 and the crew of the South Korea-registered ship were waiting for help in life boats.

Despite strong wind and big waves, Chinese sailors managed to take the 20 people back to the cargo ship.

The South Korean ship captain said that one sailor was missing. After one hour's searching, however, they failed to find the missing.

With the captain's agreement, the Chinese ship stopped searching and resumed its original course to Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2005)