TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwanese rescuers were searching for eight people who went missing on Friday after a marine research ship capsized, while 37 others on the boat had been accounted for, the government said.

The vessel - carrying 45 people - capsized off the Penghu islands earlier Friday, a Cabinet statement said.

The coastguard and the navy dispatched six vessels and two helicopters, rescuing 37 people, the statement said.

The 2,700-tonne ship departed from a port in southern Tainan city on Thursday for an eight-day marine research expedition jointly conducted by several universities, according to the Central News Agency.

The boat capsized possibly after hitting reefs, the agency said.