Five people were rescued after their fishing boat capsized in South China Sea on Thursday, the local maritime authority said Friday.

Four men and a woman were fishing for whelks off the city of Zhuhai,Guangdong Province, at about 5:30 p.m. when their boat ran out of oil and capsized amid high waves and strong winds, throwing all five into the sea near Guishan Island.

The cargo ship, "Tran Shelf", which was passing nearby rescued them and reported the incident to the Maritime Bureau of Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

By 7:40 p.m., the five, natives of Hunan Province in central China, were taken to the island by a patrol ship dispatched by the bureau. Their conditions were said to be stable.

The bureau said its crew failed to identify the nationality of the foreign ship.

The local maritime authorities warned fishing people to beware of weather conditions and reinforced patrols and surveillance.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2009)