JINAN - All 49 sailors aboard two foreign cargo ships that collided in the sea off East China's Shandong province early Monday have been rescued, Chinese maritime authorities said.

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The Maritime Bureau in Weihai, a port city in Shandong, received reports at 2:25 am that a Panamanian ship had collided with a Maltese vessel and both were seriously damaged, the bureau said in a press release.

It sent four rescue boats, including a salvage vessel and three towboats, that arrived at the scene at around 5:30 am and rescued all the 49 sailors, the bureau said.

The Maltese ship, en route from Indonesia to Tianjin, was carrying 23 sailors, including 13 Iranians and 10 Filipinos.

All 26 sailors on board the Panamanian ship, en route from Tianjin to Singapore, were Chinese.

The Panamanian ship has been towed to Weihai Port and the Maltese ship to the Longyan Port in Shandong. The cause of the collision is under investigation.