A crew member was rescued Photo: Courtesy of Donghai Rescue

Two container ships collided at the Yangtze River estuary at around 11 pm Sunday, resulting in one ship sinking. Of its Chinese crew members, three have died while five are still missing, according to the Donghai Rescue Bureau of China on Monday.

The rest of the ship's crew members have been rescued; search and rescue efforts for its remaining members are ongoing.

A container ship "OCEANA" collided with "Xinqisheng 69" at the Yangtze River estuary after a main engine failure, resulting in "Xinqisheng 69" sinking and a total of 16 Chinese crew members on board being in distress.

The "OCEANA" is a container ship registered with Antigua and Barbuda; it is 165 meters long, weighs 17,769 tons, and carries 1285 TEU of containers and 19 crew members. It is currently anchored at the Yangtze River estuary, according to media reports.

The other ship — "Xinqisheng 69" — is a container ship owned by Xiamen Qisheng Shipping Co, with a length of 165.35 meters, weighing 12,788 tons with a load of 650 containers.