MANILA (AFP) - Rescuers searched waters off the Philippines on Sunday (May 29) for seven people missing after a collision between a fishing boat and a cargo ship, the authorities said.

The Philippine fishing vessel and Marshall Islands-flagged MV Happy Hiro collided on Saturday east of Palawan Island, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

The fishing boat capsized and sank in the Sulu sea, coast guard spokesman Commodore Armando Balilo said.

Thirteen of its 20 crew members were plucked from the water by another fishing boat before being transferred to the Happy Hiro.

They suffered minor injuries.

The coast guard deployed rescue teams from nearby stations to scour the waters for the seven missing crew members.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, has a poor maritime safety record.

Mishaps and overcrowding are common on vessels that are often wooden-hulled outriggers used for fishing or transporting people.

On Monday, seven people were killed and 127 were rescued after a fire ripped through a ferry and forced passengers to jump overboard.

The 186-person capacity fast craft boat was about a kilometre from Real, in Quezon province on the main island of Luzon, when the blaze started.