The perfect rescue: Patrol boats save Chinese

Taiwanese patrol boats rescued 22 Chinese crewmen yesterday from a Panama-registered cargo ship that was listing in high waves off southern Taiwan, coast guard said. The 9,000-tonne Jetta docked early Sunday at a tiny islet off Pingtung port to escape approaching Tropical Storm Kammuri. But high waves caused its cargo of steel bars to shift, and the ship began to tilt dangerously to one side, the coast guard said. "We had the cargo fastened, but the ship rocked so badly that the ropes broke off,'' the ship's Chinese captain, who was not identified, told ETTV cable news.