国际英语新闻：S.Korea Navy loses contact with fishing boat searching missing sailors

SEOUL, April 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Coast Guard lost contact late Friday with a fishing boat conducting search operation for missing sailors of a sunken warship in the Yellow Sea. The Coast Guard said it was feared sunken, according to Seoul 's Yonhap News Agency.

The Coast Guard said it received a signal of distress sent by the 100-ton fishing boat at around 20:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT) .

A search and rescue mission was launched by the Coast Guard and the Navy immediately after receiving the distress call, but they have yet found the ship, reports said.

The ship, with 9 crew members onboard, might have sunken as the rescue group only spotted a belf of oil in the area, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard suspected that the boat "Kumyang 98" went down after it collided with a passing-by Cambodia-flag cargo ship, while returning from the search operation for 46 missing sailors of the Navy ship "Cheonan" that sank last Friday night near the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula due to an unexplained explosion, reports said.

The Coast Guard and the Navy currently are pursuing the cargo ship.