China held an emergency drill including 13 vessels and a helicopter in the disputed waters of the South China Sea on Thursday morning amid mounting tensions over Beijing's claims on the maritime region, according to Xinhua.

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The naval exercise took place in the waters near Sansha in China's Hainan province and is China's first comprehensive emergency drills on such a large scale since the establishment of Sansha in 2012. The exercise included air-sea search and rescue drills, emergency treatment and simulation of fire fighting in the sea.

The scenario included two cargo vessels "colliding" near the prefecture-level city of Sansha leaving seven mariners missing. The "collision" also caused a fire on one of the ships, endangering the lives of eight other crewmembers onboard.

As soon as the SOS signal was sent out, the city's maritime search and rescue center initiated an emergency operation, sending out a host of vessels including cruise, salvage and coast guard ships to the collision area in order to search for the missing crewmembers and extinguish the fire.

More than 200 people belonging to 10 different departments participated in the emergency exercise. The fire was put out and the seven mariners were brought back to safety.

Established in 2013, Sansha's maritime search and rescue center has since rescued 1,201 people in 49 emergency incidents. Deputy Mayor Chen Rumao has said that the city will continue to hold such emergency drills and announced plans to expand into Nansha waters.

The emergency drill comes in the wake of China's refusal to accept the UN-backed international tribunal's ruling over its claims on most of the South China Sea.

Tagschina, South China Sea, South China Sea claims, South China Sea Dispute, China emergency drill, emergency drill, naval exercise