The naval force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has saved the lives of 12 shipwreck victims and retrieved 48 bodies from the water since the ship Dashun capsized near the coast city of Yantai in east China's Shandong Province on November 24.

To date, 10 ships of the naval force have been sent on a total of 39 missions, and helicopters have been hovering above the site of the disaster.

Naval officers have ordered all PLA men to surmount all difficulties in their attempts to rescue possible survivors and retrieve the bodies of the dead as soon as possible.

Ship No. 686 along with naval vessels from Yantai, Weihai and Lushun are still searching at the accident site.

The Dashun, owned by the Yantai Yanda Automobile Ferry Company, caught fire on the afternoon of November 24 and was forced to turn back from its course toward the port of Dalian in Liaoning Province in northeast China.

The vessel sent out distress signals after flames were discovered at 4:30 p.m. and sank at about midnight of that same day.