Efforts of the Beihai Rescue Bureau to improve its capabilities have paid off.

With more rescue ships and helicopters, the bureau is capable of covering a larger area of the Bohai Sea in a shorter time, said Hou Jinghua, director of the Beihai Rescue Bureau based in Yantai in east China's Shandong Province.

The current average time to get to accident spots has been cut to 2 hours and 27 minutes from the former 4 hours and 41 minutes during the January-July period, when the bureau was established.

"The shortened rescue time has greatly improved our working efficiency, and ensures more safety," said Hou.

The rescue bureau is one of the three professional rescue bureaux set up by the Ministry of Communications in 2003. The other two are in Shanghai and Guangzhou. They cover China's northern, eastern and southern sea areas respectively, with the central government financing all their costs.

The Beihai Rescue Bureau covers mainly the Bohai Bay, which links the Liaodong Peninsula and the Shandong Peninsula and also the Yangtze River Delta. More than 300 ships travel through the bay every day.

Starting from July, the bureau added three salvage ships to patrol on the Bohai Bay, Changdao area and Lushun Port area in Liaoning Province.

"The three spots are essential for the Bohai Bay," Hou emphasized.

For example, Beihai No 1 salvation ship is located 45 sea miles to Dalian, Yantai and Weihai respectively, and is less than 10 sea miles to the nearby busy navigation routs linking the three cities. In anticipation of more bad weather in winter, the bureau has placed another two rescue ships in the Qinhuangdao and Qingdao sea areas.

Hou said by the end of September, the bureau had more than 100 times of setouts and salvaged 600 people in danger, and the salvation success rate reached 100 percent.

In April, China Beihai First Aviation Rescue Team was set up, greatly strengthening Bohai Sea area's salvation power.

(China Daily November 25, 2004)