Australia helping Papua New Guinea after boat reportedly sinks with 350 aboard February 2, 2012 -- Updated 0527 GMT (1327 HKT) The Australian maritime authority says it received a distress signal from a boat Thursday morning The boat has reportedly sunk off Papua New Guinea with as many as 350 people on board About 50 people have been rescued so far, according to a vessel at the scene (CNN) -- The Australian authorities said Thursday that they were helping Papua New Guinea with rescue efforts for a passenger boat that was reported to have sunk with as many as 350 people on board. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it had detected a distress signal from the vessel, the Rabaul Queen, on Thursday morning. The boat is thought to have gone down about 16 kilometers off the east coast of the Papua New Guinea mainland while ferrying passengers from the town of Kimbe on New Britain Island, the Australian agency said. Six merchant vessels and three local helicopters are at the scene of the accident to help with the rescue, according to the agency. The master of one of the merchant vessels is coordinating efforts at the scene and has reported that about 50 people have been rescued so far, the agency said. CNN's Karen Smith contributed to this report.