Shipping services across Qiongzhou Strait in south China resumed Saturday after a 17-hour suspension due to typhoon Neoguri.

The Maritime Safety Administration Bureau of Hainan Province revoked the suspension at 11:40 AM Saturday, considering the waters were safe.

Passengers and vehicles have begun to board on ships at Xiuying Port in Haikou, capital of Hainan.

Typhoon Neoguri, the first to hit south China this year, weakened into a severe tropical storm and landed at Longlou Town, Wenchang City, in the northeast of the island province of Hainan at 10:30 PM on Friday.

It led to the missing of 18 fishermen and evacuation of at least 42,000 residents in Hainan.

The central observatory of the country said the storm was moving at 10 to 15 kilometers per hour northward, and could make a landfall between Wuchuan and Taishan, Guangdong Province on Saturday afternoon or later into the night with a weakening force.

(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2008)