Hong Kong Director of Marine Dept. Roger Tupper said the sailors
were trapped in the ship’s hull and could still be alive if they
found an air pocket inside the vessel. However, he said rescue
divers knocked on the boat and did not hear the sailors signal
back.

Divers made nine attempts to rescue the trapped sailors but were
hindered by strong currents and poor visibility, the Hong Kong
government said in a statement.

Rescuers were trying to move the 264-foot-long Ukrainian boat -
which was upside down at a depth of 115 feet – to a shallower spot
to ease rescue efforts, Tupper said.

“We have to get the vessel to shallow water to enable divers to
have a better environment to operate,” he said at a news
conference. “That does take time. That’s very unfortunate.”

The Ukrainian tugboat Neftegaz, which had been traveling from
the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to an oil field south of Hong
Kong, collided with Chinese-registered cargo ship Yao Hai late
Saturday off Hong Kong’s outlying island of Lantau, Tupper said.

He said six Ukrainians and a Chinese citizen were rescued from
the tugboat.

Tupper said the cause of the accident was not yet known and
weather conditions were “reasonable” when it occurred. Neither
vessel was overloaded, he said.

All 25 crew members aboard the Chinese cargo ship were rescued,
Tupper said.

The cargo ship suffered some damage but did not sink, the
government statement said.