China, ASEAN hold joint maritime rescue drill

China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) jointly held a maritime rescue drill off the coast of south China's Guangdong Province on Tuesday.

The drill, the largest of its kind for China and ASEAN members, involved about 1,000 rescuers aboard 20 ships and three helicopters from China, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Brunei.

The drill simulated a scene involving a collision between a Chinese passenger ship and a Cambodian bulk cargo ship in the waters off Zhanjiang, with passengers falling into the sea and the cargo ship catching fire.

China has strengthened maritime rescue cooperation with ASEAN members in recent years.

Zhuang Zeping, deputy director of the Guangdong provincial maritime search and rescue center, said in the event of transnational shipwrecks, cooperation between countries could help reduce life and property loss.

He Xiangqi, an official with the department of boundary and ocean affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the maritime rescue cooperation between China and ASEAN countries could help improve rescue capability in the South China Sea.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)