Not less than 20 persons have been declared missing as a Chinese general cargo ship, JIN TIAN sank in East China sea some 75 nm south of Jeju island, Korea, early in the morning of January 25, while en route from Vanimo PNG to Incheon, Korea.

It was learnt that the ship was caught in rough weather brought by N-NE icy winds, raging over Asian waters during last several days.

Last report from the ship was around 0225 Seoul time, stating that the crew was leaving the ship. Korean and Japanese Coast Guard have joined forces in search and rescue and by 0930 Seoul time two out of 22 crew were rescued, the rest are still missing.