China's national maritime rescue force, the China Rescue and Salvage (CRS), conducted an advanced air and sea rescue drill in a South China Sea area off Haikou City of south China's Hainan Province on Wednesday.
The drill focused on two key scenarios which were the precise delivery of rescue personnel by helicopter, and the vertical rescue of personnel from a ship's deck.
In the vertical rescue scenario, a rescue helicopter must hover on a 15-meter safe distance above a simulated distressed vessel, as a rescuer was lowered via a winch system to land precisely on the deck.
After a rapid assessment of the "victim," the rescuer used a rescue harness to secure the banding of the "victim", and then the helicopter crew hoisted them to the safe place.
A rescue helicopter has an operational radius of 200 nautical miles (370.4 kilometers) and can rescue up to 20 people in a single operation. It is designed for a variety of scenarios, including rescuing individuals from fixed locations, ships at sea, and directly from the water.
The rescue drill is part of a maritime culture and salvage campaign which runs from March to June with both online and offline demonstrations in China's eastern, northern and southern maritime regions.
The CRS, which is under the command of the Ministry of Transport, is China's professional force for maritime rescue and salvage operations. So far, it has been maintaining a 24/7 state of readiness, with specialized rescue vessels, helicopters, and emergency response teams strategically deployed in key areas of the South China Sea, including waters of the eastern Guangdong Province, the Pearl River Estuary, the Qiongzhou Strait, and the Xisha and Nansha Islands.
In 2024, the CRS conducted 244 rescue operations in the sea areas of south China, successfully rescuing 895 people and recovering property valued at approximately 3.3 billion yuan (about 456.6 million U.S. dollars).
By the end of 2025, the CRS will built itself into a modern and professional salvage system that will be comprehensive and all-weather operational, covering both seas and rivers, featuring rapid response and high efficiency. And its efficiency and disposal effect of emergency rescue and salvage operations will reach the world's advanced levels, according to the CRS.
China's maritime rescue force conducts advanced drill in South China Sea
