SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese salvage team recovered two bodies on Saturday from a stricken Iranian oil tanker, that was still blazing a week after it caught fire and was left adrift following a collision in the East China Sea, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The four members of the salvage team wore respirators to board the “Sanchi”, where they found the two bodies on the deck.

They tried to get to the living quarters but were driven back by temperatures on the burning ship of around 89 Celsius (192 Fahrenheit), Xinhua said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif by telephone that “as long as there is 1 percent of hope, China will continue to make 100 percent effort” in the rescue effort, according to a report on the ministry website.

The body of a mariner suspected to be from the ship was recovered on Monday and sent to Shanghai for identification. The rest of the crew, which included 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remains missing.

The salvage team recovered the voyage data recorder, or “black box” from the bridge, before leaving the vessel less than half an hour after boarding because the wind had shifted and “thick toxic smoke” had complicated the operation, Xinhua said.</s>China’s Road and Bridge Corporation will build the controversial Peljesac Bridge in southern Croatia, designed to link Dubrovnik to the rest of the country and bypass the Bosnian coast, it was announced on Friday.

Croatia’s state roads company, Croatian Roads, announced on Friday that the China Road and Bridge Corporation is to build the Peljesac Bridge, the biggest infrastructural project in the country.

The offer from the Chinese state-owned construction company was cheaper than that of Austria’s Strabag – 279 million euros in comparison to 351 million euros.

An Italian-Turkish consortium also competed for the tender but was rejected due to an invalid bank guarantee.

The tender was opened in last September and companies had four months to present their offers.

The bridge connecting the Croatian coast with the southern Peljesac peninsula is important because it bypasses a short strip of the Bosnian coast that interrupts the continuity of Croatian and EU territory.

For this reason, the European Commission last June offered to supply up to 85 per cent of funds for construction of the bridge.

Bosnian politicians have often opposed the bridge project, claiming it will limit larger ships from coming to the Bosnian port of Neum.

China has made few big investments in Croatia so far, but Chinese companies are becoming more and more present in the rest of the Balkans.

A report by Britain’s House of Lords on UK ties to the Western Balkans published on Wednesday noted increased Chinese investments in the region.</s>A Chinese consortium was chosen to build a controversial bridge deemed vital for Croatia’s tourism industry, officials said Friday, announcing the first significant Chinese investment in the European Union member.

The 2.08-billion-kuna (279-million-euro, $338-million) offer by the China Road and Bridge Corporation-led consortium for construction of the bridge was “economically most favourable,” a statement from the state-run Croatian Roads firm said.

The bridge that will link two parts of Croatia’s Adriatic coastline is aimed at cutting travel times for tourists, but has sparked controversy with Bosnia.

The span across a bay will enable drivers to avoid a 10-kilometre (six-mile) stretch of road belonging to Bosnia, thus saving time at border crossings, and reach the famous southern resort town of Dubrovnik more quickly.

However, Sarajevo claims the bridge would hamper its maritime access, prompting Croatia to increase the height of the bridge to 55 meters (181 feet).

Last June, the EU, which Croatia joined in 2013, approved 357 million euros to finance the bridge project which is seen as important for tourism, a key driver of Croatia’s economy.

Nearly 18 million tourists visited the former Yugoslav republic last year, far outstripping its population of 4.2 million, mostly going to its stunning Adriatic coast which features more than 1,000 islands and islets.

The deadline for completion of the 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) bridge, the country’s longest, is 36 months, the statement said.

Croatia said earlier it planned to complete the bridge in 2022.

There were two other bidders — Austria’s Strabag company and an Italian-Turkish consortium.

Croatia started building the bridge in 2007, but the project was halted due to budgetary constraints.

Following major investments in Serbia, China has appeared eager to boost its presence in EU member states such as Hungary and Croatia.
A Chinese rescue team recovers two bodies from the MV Sanchi and salvages the voyage data recorder from the bridge.