Six fishermen were saved by police Saturday after being trapped by tropical storm Sanvu for about 12 hours at sea off the southern coastal province of Guangdong.

The six fishermen from the province's Haifeng County tried to sail into the Xiaomo Port to avoid Sanvu around 6 PM Friday, but got stranded at sea nearby the port due to strong wind and huge waves caused by the tropical storm, said Miao Jiazhen, head of the port.

The public security department of Shanwei City sent rescuers with salvage motorboat to the site shortly after receiving the call for help and it took them more than 10 hours to save the desperate fishermen from the fishing boat, whose stern had sunk in the sea.

The fishermen were receiving treatment in local hospital, according to the local government.

The severe tropical storm Sanvu, the 10th tropical storm that visited China this year, slapped the Chenghai area in Shantou City in Guangdong at 12:45 with the maximum wind force of hurricane. 

Sanvu moved northwestward at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour. The center of the typhoon has a diameter of 60 kilometers.

According to local weather forecast, the tropical storm is to move northwestward at an estimated speed of 25 kilometers per hour in upcoming 24 hours.

Sanvu will bring rainstorms to the eastern part of the province and the Pearl River Delta from Saturday to Sunday, said the provincial observatory.

Guangdong and its neighboring Fujian Province, which may also be affected by Sanvu, the Chinese name for coral, have taken emergency precautionary measures against the tropical storm.

Sanvu came on the heels of typhoon Matsa, which swept through China's eastern coastal areas last week, dumping torrential rains and causing enormous economic losses in the afflicted regions. 

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2005)