(CNN) -- Emergency crews have rescued 26 Chinese crew members whose boat began taking on water off the northern Philippines Sunday night, the state-run Chinese news agency reported.
The crew members were rescued after their Panamanian-registered cargo ship started to sink, the Xinhua news agency reported Monday.
A passing Japanese vessel picked up the crew members, but the ship's captain and a technician remained aboard to try to rescue goods, the news agency said.
Their fate is unknown, the news agency said.
The Philippine Coast Guard told CNN that the boat sunk around 5 p.m. Sunday (0900 GMT).
It said Monday morning that it has dispatched a helicopter and at least one search-and-rescue vessel and that the operation was ongoing. E-mail to a friend