Crew missing from blazing Korean trawler in Antarctica - NZ

WELLINGTON Jan 11 (Reuters) - Several crew members of a South Korean fishing vessel on fire in Antarctica are missing and others are injured, New Zealand rescue authorities said on Wednesday.

The 51-metre (155-feet) Jeong Woo 2 with a crew of 40 issued a Mayday distress call from the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic ice shelf around 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 kilometres) south east of New Zealand early on Wednesday.

Two trawlers close by rushed to the ship, which had an out of control fire on board, and picked up the crew, around half of whom had taken to a lifeboat.

The NZ Rescue Co-ordination Centre said it had been told three crew are missing and three others have burns.

"The crew is being medically assessed and the rescuing ships plan to transfer injured seamen to the U.S. research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer, which is steaming north to meet them," the NZ RCC said in a statement.

The U.S. vessel has hospital facilities on board and will sail to the research station at McMurdo Base, about 600 km to the south, from where there are flights to New Zealand.

Weather in the area reported to be calm and relatively mild.

Last month, a Russian fishing vessel was trapped for two weeks in Antarctica after it was holed by ice and took on water, requiring emergency repairs.

(Reporting by Gyles Beckford; Editing by Lincoln Feast)