Ferry services suspended in south China strait as typhoon approaches

South China's Hainan Province has suspended ferry services on the Qiongzhou Strait from 5pm on Tuesday as the country's 18th typhoon of the year approaches.

Due to heavy rains and strong gales brought by Typhoon Molave, train services to and from the tropical island will also be suspended, said the maritime safety administration of Haikou, the provincial capital, on Tuesday.

It is the fourth time in October that ferry operations on the Qiongzhou Strait have been suspended due to heavy rains and strong winds.

The Hainan meteorological service has issued a Level III typhoon warning, calling for boats in the South China Sea to return to take shelter at ports and for people to guard against flash floods and geological disasters.

Molave, which has strengthened into a severe typhoon, was some 380 km southeast of Yongxing Island, one of the Xisha Islands, at 3pm on Tuesday. It was moving northwestward at speeds of roughly 25 km per hour, packing winds of up to 162 km per hour.

The typhoon was forecast to make landfall on the coast of central Vietnam on Wednesday morning.