Rescuers on Saturday found one body when they salvaged a capsized boat off the coast of Shanghai, but ten other people from the same ferry are still missing.

The body belonged to a woman but her identity is still unknown, Shanghai maritime authorities said.

Around 2:30 p.m. Friday, an unlicensed steel ferry with at least 24 people on board was sailing from Changxing Island, a sparsely populated island in the Yangtze estuary, to the shore near Wusong of Shanghai in thick fog.

As it was about to reach the shoreline, it collided with the cable of an anchored vessel at Wusong Pier, and capsized instantly, throwing all the people on board into the sea.

Rescuers only managed to save 13 people.

Forty-four vessels have been sent to search for those missing, according to the bureau but strong winds are hampering the rescue operations.

The owner of the ferry, whose identity has not been disclosed, was detained by police from the maritime bureau.

Shanghai has been engulfed in foggy weather in the past few days, causing disruptions to air, road and ferry traffic. The ferry service from Changxing Island was cancelled on Tuesday.

Hundreds of flights at Pudong International Airport were delayed or cancelled due to thick fog. On Friday, 81 flights were cancelled and nearly 200 others delayed.

The Shanghai Meteorological Center has issued six fog alerts in the past five days.

The fog was dispersed by a cold snap on Saturday morning. And ferry services resumed later in the day.

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2008)