Thirteen fishermen were confirmed missing Thursday after a fishing boat on the sea near Shantou City of south China's Guangdong Province went missing, a spokesman of the Nanhai Rescue Bureau under the Ministry of Transport said.

The spokesman said the boat "Yueyangxi96160" along with several other boats, were being used for fishing on Wednesday afternoon, but was discovered missing when the others returned to port.

The bureau sent a search team out at about 4:15 p.m. Thursday after it received an emergency call from the other boats, the spokesman said.

The rescue work is ongoing.