Thirteen sailors rescued after accident near E China coast

A crew member of a vessel is lifted with a rescuer onto a helicopter from the North China No. 1 Relief Flight Team after their vessel became flooded in seawaters near the city of Weihai in East China's Shandong Province June 12, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Thirteen crew members were saved by a government rescue team after their vessel became flooded in seawaters near the city of Weihai in East China's Shandong Province, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said Sunday.

According to the MOT's Rescue Bureau, the fishing vessel "Lurongyu0381," with 13 people on board, became flooded in waters some 50 km to the northeast of Weihai at around 10:56 am Sunday.

After detecting a rescue signal sent out by the ship's crew, the Rescue Bureau dispatched two helicopters from the North China No. 1 Relief Flight Team, stationed in airports in the cities of Penglai and Dalian, to save the sailors.

The helicopters finished retrieving the sailors at around 1:00 pm and landed at an airport in Weihai half an hour later.

Nobody was hurt during the accident, according to the MOT.