China's maritime safety authorities staged a joint maritime
search-and-rescue exercise Saturday in water off Sanya, a city in
the southernmost island province of Hainan.
The drill, the first massive maritime exercise between China's
mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), involved two
planes, 29 ships and 400-plus staffers.
Programs of the drill included search-and-rescue at sea,
emergency response to oil leakage, fire fighting at sea and
anti-terrorism, said Ouyang Baokui, director of the Hainan
provincial maritime safety administration.
The drill started at 9:00 am with a simulated collision between two
cargo ships in the South China Sea, which sank one ship and caused
the other to catch fire and leak 50 tons of oil.
The drill was designed to enhance China's capabilities for
search and rescue, and improve emergency response competence in the
South China Sea, said Ouyang.
The South China Sea, a major sea channel for international cargo
transport, sees frequent accidents from both home and overseas.
China has been designated by the International Maritime
Organization for undertaking search and rescue missions in this
water, according to Liu Gongchen, vice director of China's Maritime
Safety Administration.
"Implementation of China's commitment is conducive to its own
economic development and its international prestige," Liu said.
The exercise is the fifth organized by China's Ministry of
Communications and China Maritime Search and Rescue Center since
2000. The previous four were held respectively in the estuaries of
the Pearl and Yangtze rivers, and waters off the Yellow Sea and
Bohai Bay.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2004)
