A cargo ship sailing from Indonesia to Hong Kong has sunk in Philippine waters and the fate of its 19-member Filipino crew is unknown, the coast guard said today.
The ship sank as a wide area of the Philippines was being buffeted by tropical storm "Lingling", which has killed at least 87 people in a sweep through the country's southern and central provinces.
The 5,800-tonne freighter was sailing in Philippines waters with a cargo of logs when it sank off the northern Philippine province of Pangasinan, Lieut Armand Valilo said in a radio interview.
"We are preparing to launch rescue operations but the weather is bad and we cannot approach the area", Mr Valilo said.
The name of the ship was not immediately available.
One hundred and seventy five people are still missing because of the tropical storm.
The tiny southern island of Camiguin suffered the greatest damage, with 78 dead and 149 missing, Congressman Jurdin Romualdo, the province's representative, said.
The storm, now posting maximum winds of 90 kilometres per hour, was forecast to continue west at nine kilometres an hour across the central islands before exiting into the South China Sea on Saturday morning.
AFP