Moscow : At least three crew members of a South Korean fishing boat are thought to have died when their vessel caught fire in Antarctica Wednesday, officials said.

 There were Russian, Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese and South Korean nationals among the 40 crew members.

“Three crew members are still missing and are believed to have died in the fire in the vessel’s accommodation block,” the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre said.

The ship, the Jeong Woo 2, caught fire while en route through the Ross Sea, 3700 km southeast of New Zealand.

“Two of the rescued crew members from the Jeong Woo 2 are believed to have extensive burn injuries and another five have less serious burns,” the rescue centre added.