Engineering vessel "Fujing 001" was snapped in half in waters off Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province on July 2. 

Thirty crew members were aboard, four of whom have been rescued. The search for the remaining crew is ongoing, but Typhoon Chaba, which caused the incident, is hampering the rescue effort. 

According to its owner, "Fujing 001" was carrying out engineering works on offshore wind-power-plant projects when the typhoon struck. The vessel owner said the crew tried to avoid the typhoon, but the winds proved too strong and the waves were as high as 10 meters at one point. When the chain of the anchor broke, they weren't able to keep control of the vessel.

Authorities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said during a press conference on Sunday afternoon that search and rescue efforts had been expanded, and the Government Flying Service, a disciplined unit in the HKSAR, had dispatched its entire fleet of aircraft, including helicopters, but the strong winds were making the operation very hazardous.

The search area is littered with over 100 massive wind turbines, which are adding to the pilots' difficulties.

One piece of positive news is that the vessel's owner said all the crew members were wearing life jackets, which would aid their chance of survival.

Typhoon Chaba hit the Chinese mainland on Saturday afternoon. It had weakened to the level of a "tropical storm" by the time it reached the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China.

Authorities in Guangxi had teams in place to deal with any problems. The island province of Hainan was also affected – authorities there were forced to delay or cancel travel services.

Chaba is expected to keep moving north through the mainland over the coming days, with central China's Henan Province and even east China's Shandong Province likely to see consequences.

Weather authorities said June is normally the start of typhoon season in China. This year, it came a bit later, but now that Chaba has arrived, southern China will probably experience more rainstorms in the near future.

(Cover: Engineering vessel "Fujing 001" in waters off Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province, China. /CGTN)