Rescue workers on Monday found a body while searching for the seamen missing after a ship collision off the east China coast on Sunday, which left 20 crew members missing.

More than 280 rescuers, 17 rescue boats and three helicopters are searching the area, said a spokesman for the Maritime Affairs Bureau of east China's Zhejiang Province.

He gave no details on the body, including its possible identity.

A Chinese ship collided with a foreign cargo ship at around 4:00 AM Sunday. The foreign ship sank immediately and all 20 crew members -- 19 Chinese and an Indonesian -- were missing, according to marine police in Zhejiang's Taizhou City.

The Ministry of Communications has dispatched a team to Taizhou to investigate the cause of the accident, and rescuers have located the position of the sunken ship.

Local authorities are also monitoring and clearing pollution in the area.

Minister of Communications Li Shenglin on Monday urged local authorities to strengthen management of sea transport safety and avoid ship collisions.

"Chinese ships which have reported problems should be banned from operating, and foreign ships should also be targeted for inspections -- every time they come, they should be checked," Li told Xinhua.

The 6,500-ton cargo ship, "Harvest", was en route from Shanghai to Vietnam when it collided with the Chinese cargo ship "Jinhaikun" in Taizhou Bay, east China.

The 17,061-ton Chinese ship is from Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province, and was bound for Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu Province.

The Harvest, loaded with 5,000 tons of steel, was registered in Belize in Central America.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2007)