Freighter Under Investigation After Colliding With Chinese Fishing Boat

A Panama-registered freighter was being investigated in east China's Zhejiang Province Saturday afternoon after a collision with a Chinese fishing boat Friday morning left eight Chinese fishermen missing, local authorities said. The Southern Wallaby, which belongs to Japan's Tatsumi Marine Co. Ltd, arrived at the Ningbo Port at 2 p.m. for investigation, a Ningbo municipal immigration inspection department official said. There were 20 seamen on the freighter, including two from the Republic of Korea and 18 from the Philippines. They were all in good condition, the official said.The Southern Wallaby"Because the freighter has a huge tonnage and is fully loaded, it suffered no damage in the collision. While the fishing boat sank and all the eight fishermen are missing," he said. The freighter, built in 2003, is 123.5 meters long and 20.2 meters wide. It set sail on March 5 from Singapore bound for Rizhao Port in east China's Shandong Province, with a cargo of 11,951 tonnes of palm oil, he said. Rescuers are still searching for the eight missing. The collision occurred at 1 a.m., in Chinese waters off the coast of Ningbo City. The fishing boat was registered in Zhejiang Province.