Thirty-two tanker crew members are missing, presumed dead following a collision between the Panama registered vessel and a Hong Kong freighter, in the East China Sea, on Saturday, Jan 6, says the Chinese Ministry of Transport. The crew of the freighter were rescued.

The collision occurred on Saturday 257 kilometers east of the Yangtze River estuary, framed by the Chinese city of Shanghai and the Jiangsu provinces (south ) and Zhejiang province  (to the north), according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The 32 missing men are  30 Iranians and two Bengalis.  After the collision, a fire broke out in the tanker

The Ministry said that there has been an oil spill into the sea, but did not specify the extent of the contaminated area.

Chinese maritime authorities sent eight search and rescue boats to the area, while South Korea has sent a coastguard and a fixed-wing aircraft to assist with the rescue.

The tanker Sanchi, owned by an Iranian maritime company was transporting 136,000 tons of refined oil from Iran to South Korea.

The freighter, from a company based in Zhejiang province, was carrying 64,000 tons of grain from the United States to the province of Canton, South China.