Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian marine officers have mounted search and rescue efforts to find a US national who went missing after his yacht collided with a fishing trawler in waters off Malaysia's east coast, a news report said Monday.

Kenneth Wayne, 62, had set off sailing with four other friends from Phuket, Thailand, on May 16 and was heading for neighbouring Singapore when the accident occurred early Sunday in waters off the central Pahang state, district police chief Mohamad Jasmani Yusoff was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.

He said the four others in the yacht - an Irish national and three Thai nationals - were rescued by a fishing vessel, adding that the trawler involved in the collision sped off after the accident.

Mohamad Jasmani said the survivors, aged between 27 and 44, were in stable condition.

The Thailand-registered yacht sank after the collision, the report said. (dpa)