AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- Three crew members of a South Korean fishing boat went missing overboard and three others were injured after the ship caught fire in Antarctic waters early Wednesday, rescue officials said.

The 51-meter-long vessel Jeong-woo 2, which had been fishing in the remote Ross Sea, some 3,704 kilometers southeast of New Zealand, issued a distress call at around 3 a.m. after it was engulfed in fire, according to the Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand (RCCNZ).

The distress call was picked up by two other Korean fishing boats, the Jeong-woo 3 and Hong-jin 707, which rushed to the scene and helped evacuate 37 of the ship's 40 crew members known to be on board, the RCCNZ said.

A search for the missing sailors was under way, it added.

The cause of the fire and nationalities of the rescued sailors have yet to be known.

The fire was reported as being "out of control," Dave Wilson, an official at the RCCNZ said, adding the weather in the area currently is clear, with light winds. 

The ships that responded to the Mayday call planned to transfer the seamen who had serious burns to a United States research vessel, the Nathaniel B. Palmer, which is steaming north to collect the fishermen and take them to land, according to the organization.

The fire was believed to have started in the vessel's accommodation block, it added.

Built in 1985 and owned by South Korea's Sunwoo Corp., the Jeong-woo 2 was fishing for Patagonian Toothfish, rays and crabs in the Antarctic Ocean. The long-liner has a gross registered tonnage of 489 and can carry up to 2.749 tonnes of catch.