MANILA - A Chinese cargo ship sank off the northern Philippine province of Cagayan early Sunday, resulting in the death of one crew member and the missing of another, the Philippine Coast Guard and Chinese embassy officials said.

Capt. George Ursabia, commander of the coast guard's District Northern Luzon, said a sailor was still missing and currently subject to search and rescue operation while 13 other crew members were rescued. One of the rescued was hospitalized, he said.

Ursabia said the ship, Changda 216, was half-loaded with magnetized sand when it sank about 2.4 kilometers from the mouth of Cagayan river as it was battered by big waves caused by the northwest monsoon.

"It was on distress around 12:30 am and sank early dawn...It was carrying magnetized sand from Aparri (town), going out of the Cagayan river when it was battered by huge waves caused by the northwest monsoon. It tilted, the weight of the magnetized sand shifted to one side. That's probably the cause," said Ursabia.

"It was already loaded with magnetized sand and was going out of the river where it was supposed to continue the loading. But on the way, it was battered by big waves," he said.

The vessel has 15 crew members on board, including 13 Chinese nationals, one Indonesian and one Filipino, said a Chinese embassy official who requested anonymity, adding the dead sailor and the missing sailor are both Chinese nationals.

"We are looking for the missing and we are watching the sunken ship to prevent oil spill because it's loaded with 70 tons of diesel," said Ursabia.

The mast of the ship can be seen from the surface of water, Ursabia said, "However, it can't be salvaged as of now because of the rough sea."

A team of Chinese embassy officials are heading to the sinking site. Rescue operations are ongoing.