Log Carrier Sinks Off China

Three sailors died and four others were missing after their Cambodian-flagged log carrier sank off China's southern Fuzhou port on Thursday, rescue officials in Hong Kong said. The 3,946-ton Pamela Dream, with 19 Russian sailors aboard, sent a distress signal in the morning and 12 sailors have since been rescued by passing ships, said Captain Ravi Dewan of Hong Kong's Maritime Search & Rescue Centre. A helicopter from Taiwan and a Chinese boat were still searching the area 10 miles off the mainland for survivors, but the mission could be hampered by about 150 logs floating at sea, he said. A Lloyds dispatch said requests have been sent to ships in the area to try to retrieve the three bodies, which were sighted by the helicopter crew. - (Reuters)