268 fishermen trapped by Typhoon Wutip arrive in Sanya

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268 fishermen trapped by Typhoon Wutip arrive in Sanya

(Xinhua) 10:23, October 04, 2013

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A total of 268 fishermen who were trapped by Typhoon Wutip in the South China Sea have arrived in Sanya, Hainan Province Thursday morning after 15 hours sail in navy vessels, local authorities said.

Supply ships loaded with food, medicine and tents have arrived in Yongxing Island of Hainan's Sansha City Thursday morning, said Sansha government.

Officials from Hainan and Guangdong Provinces as well as dozens of marine troops came to a navy harbor in Sanya to welcome the fishermen home.

"Home, finally," said fisherman He Zongfa. "I can't believe so many people care about us."

Hainan Vice-Governor Li Guoliang said the government would try its best to find the 58 fishermen, who remain missing after three fishing boats sank near Shanhu Island in the Xisha Islands, about 330 km from China's island province of Hainan due to Typhoon Wutip on Sunday afternoon.

Chen Yiwu, another fishermen, said he had to stop fishing for a while as his boat was damaged. "But to make a living, I'll will go someday," Chen said.

According to Navy officer Jiang Jianzhong, to accommodate the fishermen, the crew on the navy ship could barely sleep more than four hours each night. "Many offered their beds to the fishermen and slept on couches themselves."

The four bodies retrieved from the sea were also carefully conserved and brought back to Sanya.

Meanwhile, rescue work continued. According to rescuers, 11 navy warships, eight civilian ships and 10 aircraft kept searching the area where the boats were sunk.

Altogether five fishing boats, including the three that sunk, were caught in Typhoon Wutip on Sunday, according to the Hainan Maritime Search and Rescue Center.

The fishermen had received typhoon warnings starting on Friday but did not go ashore. Instead, they placed their ships in a lagoon south of Shanhu Island to avoid gales, but the typhoon overturned their boats.

Wutip gathered power, becoming a super typhoon when it swept across nearby waters on Sunday, packing winds of up to 151.2 km per hour at its eye.

Strong gales and waves have hampered the rescue work, but the sea water temperature in the area is over 20 degrees Celsius, which means a higher chance of survival, according to rescuers.