Survival chances are slim for the 22 Chinese seamen missing after their Panama-registered freighter sank off Taiwan 12 days ago, rescuers said Thursday.

A group will head for Japan Friday to assist in DNA tests to identify two corpses which may come from the freighter "Changying", said a statement from the Qingdao City Administration for Port and Shipping Business.

The two bodies wearing the freighter lifejackets were retrieved off Japan Thursday and on Aug. 15 by Japanese rescuers.

The seamen had been missing for 12 days. Their chances of survival look slim, said Cui Jingbo, deputy head of the administration.

Japanese and Taiwan rescuers have suspended their large-scale search, but will be on the watchout for survivors in their daily patrol, said an official with Shandong Provincial Marine Safety Administration.

The China Marine Search and Rescue Center will continue to coordinate the search by passing ships, he added.

The freighter "Changying" was caught by Typhoon Morakot on Aug. 8 to the southeast of Taiwan en route from Indonesia to Taiwan. The seamen employed by the Qingdao-based Datong International Shipping Management Company Ltd. have been out of contact since then, Cui said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2009)