A LUXURY liner from Shanghai was involved in two dramatic incidents over the past two days - 44 of its passengers went missing and it later collided with a cargo ship.

Police in South Korea say dozens of Chinese tourists visiting a resort island in the south of the country deserted the ship, possibly to stay illegally.

They said 1,300 Chinese tourists visited Jeju Island on Sunday for a trip of several hours. But 44 failed to return to the ship after the island tour.

Police said 11 were found in two hotels and they were now under police protection but the rest remained missingyesterday.

Police officer Ko Sun-chang said he believed the Chinese were attempting to illegally move to mainland South Korea to find work.

The missing passengers will be deported after they are found, police said.

The tourists arrived at the island on the Italian cruise liner Costa Classica which left Shanghai with 1,311 people on board and docked at Jeju at 7am on Sunday.

The ship left the island to return to Shanghai at 3pm on Sunday.

But early yesterday morning it was in collision with a cargo ship.

"It was a really scary scene," said Yu Kang, one of the passengers.

Some passengers were slightly injured in the collision and three were taken to hospital for further treatment.

Most passengers were asleep when orders were given to put on life jackets and assemble on deck as plans were put into action for an emergency evacuation.

"Luckily nothing worse followed," said Yu.

The Shanghai maritime authority said the liner collided with the Belgium registered cargo ship Lowlands Longevity at 4:45am yesterday at the mouth of the Yangtze River, northeast of Shanghai. The two ships were sailing in the same direction.

The local water pilot was about to board the liner to navigate when the collision took place, officials said.

The liner lost control due to a power glitch, according to an initialinvestigation by the Shanghai Maritime Safety Bureau.

The liner suffered a 20 meter gash on its starboard side. Some cabins on the fifth deck were damaged, with water pouring in through broken portholes, passengers said.

Five ships from the safety bureau went to the scene and two of them escorted the liner to the city's Waigaoqiao Port at about 10am.

The liner had been due to arrive in Shanghai at about 7:30am.

The cargo ship headed to Wusong Port for checks, officials said.

The Shanghai branch of Costa, the liner's owner, yesterday apologized to passengers and said it would work closely with the maritime safety bureau to find out the reason for the collision.

The liner's next voyage (Shanghai-Japan-South Korea-Hong Kong), due to begin yesterday, was cancelled.

• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• resort [ri´zɔ:t] vi.求助；乞灵；诉诸 (初中英语单词)
• protection [prə´tekʃən] n.警戒；护照；通行证 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)
• slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
• treatment [´tri:tmənt] n.待遇；对待；治疗 (初中英语单词)
• assemble [ə´sembəl] v.聚集；装配；调整 (初中英语单词)
• investigation [in,vesti´geiʃən] n.调查(研究) (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
• voyage [´vɔi-idʒ] n.&vi.航海；航程；旅行 (初中英语单词)
• cruise [kru:z] vi.&n.巡航；航游 (高中英语单词)
• emergency [i´mə:dʒənsi] n.事变；紧急关头 (高中英语单词)
• belgium [´beldʒəm] n.比利时 (高中英语单词)
• northeast [,nɔ:θ´i:st] n.东北 a.东北的 (高中英语单词)
• initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
• mainland [´meinlənd] n.大陆；本土 (英语四级单词)
• yangtze [´jæŋtsi:] n.长江 (英语四级单词)
• collision [kə´liʒən] n.碰幢；冲突；互撞事件 (英语六级单词)
• maritime [´mæritaim] a.海(上)的；海运的 (英语六级单词)