At least 27 people are missing after a passenger ferry collided with a fishing boat in the Philippines, officials say.

菲律宾一艘客渡船与渔船相撞，造成至少27人失踪。

The wooden-hulled船身的，有壳的 ferry and the fishing boat were between them carrying at least 73 people when they collided in Manila Bay in the early hours.

Coastguard spokesman Commander Armando Balilo told local media 46 people had been rescued from the waters.

There were no reports of bad weather conditions in the area and the cause of the collision is not yet clear.

It comes as thousands of people in the Philippines travel home for the Christmas period.

"These are small, wooden vessels¹," Mr Balilo was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Both of the vessels have sunk.

Mr Balilo said rescue teams had been dispatched派遣，分派 and boats in the area had also been asked to help hunt for survivors², reported AFP.

Maritime海事的，沿海的 accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago群岛，列岛 because of tropical weather, badly maintained维护，维修 passenger boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations安全守则.

In June 2008, hundreds of people were killed when a 23,000-tonne ferry - Princess of the Stars - capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan.

In December 1987, more than 4,000 people died when the Dona Paz ferry collided with a tanker⁴ in the world's worst maritime³ disaster in peacetime.