Three foreign sailors are missing after two South Korean fishing vessels collided in Japanese waters on Thursday.

Authorities said that the 101 Geumyang and 803 Tongyeong clashed at around 7:20 a.m. in waters 267 nautical miles southeast of Japan’s Hokkaido Prefecture.

Out of the two ships' 38 crew members, 35, including seven South Koreans, were rescued by nearby fishing vessels but three foreign sailors are still missing.

The 101 Geumyang, which sank due to the collision, was heading to Russian waters, while the 803 Tongyeong was on standby in open waters when the incident occurred.

The Korea Coast Guard said fishing vessels near the site of the collision are carrying out a search operation for the missing sailors.