At least seven people went missing after a Chinese fishing vessel collided with a freighter from the Republic of Korea on Bohai Strait near east China's Shandong Province, the provincial maritime rescue center said Wednesday.

The center said the collision occurred at 3:40 a.m., when nine people aboard the fishing vessel fell into the sea. Two of them have been rescued by a passing boat.

The center has sent signals to seven passing fishing vessels to aid the search and rescue for the seven missing crew while sending patrol vessels and helicopter to join the search mission.