Eleven crew members went missing after their fishing boat collided with a merchant ship and capsized off east Chinainfo-icon coast early on Tuesday, officials said.

The accident took place in the sea waters off Zhangzhou city, Fujian province, at about 0:15 AM (local time), the city's maritime search and rescue centre said in a statement.

All 14 fishermen aboard the fishing boat from Quanzhou city fell into the sea waters.

Three persons have been rescued and the others remain missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

A helicopter and 15 boats are searching the area.