Eighteen crew and 100 passengers have been rescued early on Thursday from a ship drifting in strong winds and high seas after its engines failed in the South China Sea.

Local rescue officials said the accident occurred at 9:00 PM on Wednesday while it was approaching Weizhou Port, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The engines lost power about 7.4 kilometers offshore, putting the safety of those on board at risk in the rough conditions, the official said.

Rescue vessels took three hours to tow the 359-ton vessel -- 47 meters long and seven meters wide -- to a safe area, where the passengers and crew could be evacuated.

Rescuers with the Nanhai bureau of the Ministry of Communications, based in neighboring Guangdong Province, handled 253 marine accidents caused by rough weather in the South China Sea in 2006, saving 2,032 people.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)