After the shipwreck during a typhoon in the South China Sea, twelve of the missing crew members have been found dead.

In an area a good 90 kilometers southwest of where the ship sank on Saturday, twelve bodies had been recovered by Monday afternoon, said the Maritime Search and Research Center in the southeastern province of Guangdong.

The recovered victims are believed to have drowned, and the authorities are now working on their identification.

The ship "Fujing 001" was used for the construction of wind turbines in the sea. During the typhoon "Chaba", wind speeds of up to 144 kilometers per hour were reached at the ship's location around 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong, and the waves were up to ten meters high .

The ship's anchor chain snapped, and later it broke in two.

Three crew members were rescued on Saturday and taken to the hospital, after which there were 27 missing.

Another survivor was rescued by helicopter Monday morning.

According to a statement on Monday, the Chinese authorities sent seven planes, 246 boats and 498 fishing boats to search for the missing crew members.