Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- A major search and rescue operation is underway after two cargo ships collided off the coast of Hong Kong early Monday . One man was plucked from the water by a passing fishing boat but 11 others are missing , according to Hong Kong police . The rescued man , a 46-year-old Chinese national , is being treated at a Hong Kong hospital , where his condition is stable . The accident happened at around 2.30 a.m. local time when the Marshall Islands-registered MOL Motivator , a 300-meter long container ship , collided with a smaller Chinese vessel , the Zhong Xing 2 . The incident occurred three nautical miles southwest of Po Toi island , Marine Police told CNN . The smaller ship , believed to be transporting cement at the time , then sank with its crew of 12 , police said . The MOL Motivator was leaving for Yantian in China 's southern Guangdong Province from Hong Kong , according to local media reports . The Guangdong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center is coordinating the search effort , though a helicopter and a number of rescue vessels from Hong Kong are part of the operation . Cargo ships collide outside of Tokyo Bay .
300-meter container ship collided with smaller vessel off Hong Kong . One survivor , 11 others still missing , police say . Incident happened in the early hours of Monday .