A total of 20 bodies of sailors have been recovered after their ship sank following a collision in territorial waters off the country's southern coast, the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation said on Thursday.

The collision took place on Saturday evening when the Iraqi al-Misbar ship collided with a giant foreign-flagged vessel in Khor Abdullah waterway and 10 crew members were rescued, while four bodies found hours after the accident.

A statement by the ministry said that 16 more bodies of the crew members were found when the ship was raised on Thursday.

The Iraqi authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident, as the foreign vessel is impounded in the Iraqi port.