All 22 rescued crew members from the sinking bulk carrier "Yongfeng" were transferred safely to a mainland search and rescue vessel from a Taiwan fishing boat on Saturday, according to China Maritime Search and Rescue Center.

The crew, consisting of 14 Chinese and eight Bangladeshi nationals, were uninjured and will be sent to Xiamen, a port city in southeast China's Fujian Province. 

The rescued boat is expected to arrive Sunday morning.

The crew belongs to a bulk carrier registered in Panama, which was en route from Papua New Guinea to China early on Wednesday when it had an explosion east of the Philippines and reported taking on water and in danger of sinking.

The distress call was received at 2:47 a.m. BJT on Saturday by China Maritime Search and Rescue Center.

Rescue coordination from the center received responses from the neighboring Philippines, Japan and China's Taiwan region.

A Taiwan fishing boat named "Minfayu" was the first to arrive at the incident sea area at about 10 a.m. BJT and rescued all 22 crew members from adverse sea conditions at noon.

This is not the first maritime rescue mission conducted by efforts across the Taiwan Straits.

On November 19, four Taiwan divers, who went missing in an oceanic research mission in the waters of Penghu Islands west of Taiwan island, were rescued by a mainland fishing ship.