Seoul, Apr 3 (IANS): Search operations continued on Monday to locate a South Korean cargo ship and its 22 crew members after it was reported to have capsized in the South Atlantic, authorities said on Monday.

The search for Stellar Daisy began on Saturday, a day after the ship's crew sent a text to their South Korean employer, saying it was sinking, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Marshall Islands-flagged ship, carrying eight South Korean and 16 Filipino sailors, was sailing off Uruguay when it made the distress call, according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

A C-130 aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force on Sunday searched inside a 500-km radius area, including the scene and a point where the two Filipino crew were picked up in a raft. But it detected only fuel and debris believed to have come from the ship without finding other missing sailors, the official said.

The Stella Daisy with 260,000 tonnes of ore departed a port in Brazil on March 26 for China.