SCORES of people were missing off Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Thursday after a ferry carrying about 350 passengers sank, Australian rescue authorities said, with many feared dead.

    Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said 238 people had been plucked from the sea and from liferafts by 5.30 p.m., about 12 hours after the MV Rabaul Queen went down.

    “This is obviously a major tragedy — 350 people on board a ship that has gone down,” Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Melbourne.

    Eight merchant vessels nearby had been diverted to the scene, with helicopters and Australian fixed wing aircraft also sent to help with the rescue, AMSA said.

    A Chinese vessel rescued 29 people, the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said Thursday.

    The vessel “Zhonghe,” belonging to the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, spotted the sinking ferry at 12:08 a.m. while sailing from Australia to China’s Ningbo Port, said the center, which is administered under the Ministry of Transport.

    While earlier reports had said the weather was fair, AMSA said there were winds of 40 knots (75 kmh) and swells of about 5 meters.

    The 47-meter ship reportedly sank about 9 nautical miles off Finschhafen on the South Pacific nation’s north coast. The ferry was on its way from Kimbe, a port town on the island of New Britain, to the mainland city of Lae.

    The ship’s owners, Rabaul Shipping, said they had no information about what caused the accident, adding the vessel sank quickly and without sending a distress message.

    PNG, Australia’s nearest neighbor, is largely undeveloped, with poor infrastructure and limited facilities despite enormous resources wealth.

    The majority of its 6 million people eke out subsistence livings in villages clinging to jungle-clad mountains or scattered around its many islands.(SD-Agencies)