SHANGHAI, May 7 (Reuters) – Seventeen individuals have been lacking after a Chinese fishing boat collided with a Maltese cargo ship and sank within the East China Sea on Saturday, state media reported, citing the nation’s coastguard fleet.

The fishing boat, Lu Rong Yu 58398, had 19 individuals on board when the incident occurred at 3.40 a.m. Beijing time (1940 GMT), the China News Service mentioned, including that two individuals had been rescued by passing fishing boats and a search and rescue operation was nonetheless underway.

China National Radio mentioned that it had hit Maltese cargo ship Catalina, a 40,485 ton bulk service, which has continued crusing. They didn’t specify the place within the East China Sea the collision occurred.

The East China Sea is dwelling to a bunch of uninhabited islets claimed by each China and Japan and former incidents involving Chinese fishing boats and Japanese patrol ships have stoked diplomatic rows. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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