Four crew members have been rescued and 12 others are missing after a Chinese mainland fishing vessel collided with a tanker from Hong Kong off the coast of Japan on Thursday.

A search was ongoing Thursday night for the missing fishermen.

The fishing vessel, with the 16 crew members aboard, was identified as the 290-metric-ton Lurong Yuanyu 378 and the tanker from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was the 63,294-ton tanker Bright Oil Lucky carrying 21 crew members, who were believed to be safe, the AFP news service reported, citing a Japanese Coast Guard official.