Nineteen people are missing with only one rescued after a Liberian ship collided with a fishing boat in the East China Sea on Saturday night, said the Zhejiang Maritime Affairs Bureau on Sunday.

A spokesman with the bureau said that the Liberian ship, "Formosa 10", collided with the fishing boat about 11:40 p.m. in the sea off the eastern Zhejiang Province, on its way from Taiwan to the Republic of Korea.

The fishing boat, with 20 people on board, capsized.

"Most of the missing people are local fishermen and the others are from the neighboring provinces," said the spokesman.

The provincial search and rescue center sent more than ten searching boats to the scene immediately and a helicopter arrived to assist in the operation around 6:45 a.m. on Sunday.

More than 20 fishing boats also participated in the rescue work.

"The visibility at the sea is favorable but the temperature of the sea water is very low. Usually, it's hard for people to survive more than 12 hours in such cold water," rescuers said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2007)