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Pushed by high winds, China's strongest storm tides since 1969 churned across the East China Sea yesterday, capsizing nine ships.

Rescue vessels were dispatched after an SOS was received from the endangered ships shortly after midnight Saturday. But it took them four hours to reach the scene in strong winds, according to Song Jiahui, director of the Ministry of Communications rescue department.

By yesterday afternoon, 111 people had been plucked from the wintry waters in a successful rescue operation involving four fishing boats and two fishery administration vessels. There were no reports of casualties.

The ministry assembled a rescue team for north China's Bohai Sea, where the storm tide was expected to be particularly powerful. The team comprised 49 rescue vessels, three helicopters and six other emergency rescue units.

An unspecified number of residents of coastal areas in east and north China were evacuated to higher ground.

With media and coastal radios broadcasting warnings about the storm tide, Communications Minister Li Shenglin ordered vessels to stay in the harbor. Some 189 ships were sheltered in Yantai, Shandong Province, alone.

Earlier yesterday, a cold front was closing in on the city with winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour.

Yantai maritime authorities said that yesterday morning's tide was up 56 centimeters to 200 centimeters at Laizhou, Longkou and Yantai ports in Shandong. The storm tide was expected to peak last night or today.

Coastal Yantai experienced a huge 3.55-meter surge at Laizhou Bay on April 23, 1969, with sea water rushing 40 kilometers inland.

After receiving the report of the latest dangerous weather, the city's maritime authority ordered its offshore search and rescue teams to stand by around the clock.

North China's coastal city of Tianjin experienced a 4.95-meter-high tide about 4pm yesterday, exceeding the warning level.

About 10,000 people were organized to carry out rescue work.

Some 10,000 tons of material and cargo in Tianjin Port were transferred to safety and coastal restaurant staff and residents were evacuated, government sources said.

As of yesterday afternoon, the storm hadn't caused any major work safety accidents or casualties on the sea or serious damage to homes and buildings, according to Tianjin authorities.

Maritime authorities also asked China National Offshore Oil Corp's Bohai branch to take measures to ensure the safety of all offshore oil facilities, ships and workers. All activities were suspended until after the storm subsides.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2007)