China is planning to build three new maritime rescue teams this year, one to debut in April in the North China Sea, two in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Officials from the Maritime Salvation Bureau under the Chinese Ministry of Communications confirmed the news Tuesday at a sending-off ceremony for seven aircrew officers from the Government Flying Service of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They had successfully ended their four-month maritime rescue duty at the Bohai Sea in north China, and will return to HK on April 1.

The No. 1 North China Sea Maritime Rescue Team has finished all preparations and will debut in April this year.

Preparatory work for the two others, the No. 2 East China Sea Maritime Rescue Team and the No. 1 South China Sea Maritime Rescue Team, are under way. They will be put into operation by the end of this year.

China is transferring from the ship-only rescue model to the helicopter rescue model. With the three new teams in operation, the country will strengthen its maritime safety control at the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, Yangtze River mouth, East China Sea, Taiwan Straits and Qiongzhou Straits.

The Ministry of Communications is also planning to buy four more helicopters for the new rescue teams. At present, it had only five airplanes on rescue work, with two purchased, three others rented.

China established its first maritime rescue team with two helicopters in Shanghai in March last year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2004)