Seoul, Dec 4 (IANS): Four more bodies were recovered Thursday from a sunken South Korean fishing ship in the Bering Sea, the foreign ministry here said.

This increased the toll to 16, including six South Koreans and 10 southeast Asian nationals, Xinhua reported. Among the 60 crew members aboard the ship, seven were saved and 37 are still missing.

The 1,753-tonne fishing vessel Oryong 501, which was catching pollock, sank in the western part of the Bering Sea near Russia Monday after which seven people were rescued.

The crew on board the ship included 11 South Koreans, 35 Indonesians, 13 Filipinos and one Russian inspector.

The toll is expected to increase further because of the freezing sea water and stormy weather, which are hampering rescue operations. A total of 12 ships are participating in the rescue activity.

The 36-year-old vessel began listing after bad weather caused seawater to flood its storage parts. The ministry of people's safety, the country's controlling authority of disasters, launched an investigation into the maritime accident.

The ship left the country's southern port city of Busan July 10 for the Bering Sea to catch pollock.