SEOUL—All 17 crewmen on a South Korean freighter are missing after their ship capsized off the Chinese territory of Macau on Wednesday, South Korea's coastguard said.

"A Chinese rescue ship, backed by an airplane, is involved in a search operation but they have had no luck yet," a spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

"The ship lost radio contact after sending a distress call early Wednesday."

Eight South Koreans, eight Myanmese and one Indonesian are missing.

The coastguard said the Chinese ship found the 4,000-ton Zeus-ho capsized 57 km (36 miles) southwest of Macau on Wednesday afternoon but a typhoon in the area was hampering the search for the crew.

The South Korean ship, which carried 6,200 tons of glass materials, left Vietnam on Sunday and was due to arrive at the South Korean port of Masan this coming Sunday.