Manila, Sep 7 (DPA) A Panama-registered cargo vessel with 20 South Korean and Filipino crew members on board sank off the eastern Philippines as the death toll in the sinking of a domestic passenger ferry rose to nine, the coast guard said Monday.

All four South Korean and 15 Filipino crew members of the MV Hera were rescued Monday off Eastern Samar province, 660 km south of Manila, coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Armand Balilo said.

'They are all in a lifeboat which is being towed by a fishing boat,' he said.

The Hera, which was carrying logs, was on its way to China from Papua New Guinea when it experienced engine trouble and began to take on water late Sunday as it passed by the Philippines, a coast guard report said.

The accident followed Sunday's sinking of the Superferry 9, which was carrying 847 passengers, 117 crew members and four sea marshals, off Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte province, 810 km south of Manila.

Coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said nine fatalities had been confirmed in the Superferry 9 accident while 957 people were rescued.