A South Korean cargo ship has sunk off the coast of Japan, leaving all of its 16 crew members missing.

According to the Korea Coast Guard, the four-thousand-255-ton Orchid Pia collided with a ten-thousand-833-ton Panama-registered freighter at 2:15 am Tuesday 13 kilometers east of Izu Oshima Island, southwest of Tokyo.

Sixteen sailors — seven Koreans and nine Indonesians — were aboard the cargo ship when it sank. The Korean ship carrying five-thousand tons of steel coils was travelling from the port of Kashima in eastern Japan to South Korea.

The Japan Coast Guard said visibility in the area at the time of the incident was poor because of rain. Three coast guard helicopters and six search-and-rescue vessels are working to locate the missing crew.

Life jackets presumed to belong to the missing sailors were found near the collision site.

CNN of the United States said the Cygnus Ace, an automobile carrier with a 19-member crew, suffered damage to its bow but could navigate on its own.