A boat registered in the Republic of Korea (ROK) had a mishap on east China's Bohai Sea Sunday morning and 11 foreign sailors and a Chinese sailor on the boat have been rescued, local authorities said.

The ROK-registered boat had an engine failure on early Sunday morning at an area near Longkou City in east China's Shandong Province, according to the Yantai Maritime Affairs Bureau under the Ministry of Communications.

The bureau dispatched two vessels and a helicopter for rescue operation immediately after receiving signals for help at 7:05 a.m. Sunday.

Due to strong gales and billows, one of the rescue vessels was forced to return to the harbor and the helicopter also failed to take off.

The other rescue vessel braved waves to reach the scene at 1:30p.m and saved all the sailors, the bureau said.

Editor: Donald