If the Vietnamese death toll is confirmed, the powerful storm will have claimed more than 100 lives across Asia, with 23 dead in China and 41 killed in the Philippines.

Chinese rescue vessels and storm-battered Vietnamese ships kept searching the foggy seas for survivors of the storm that swept from the Philippines to China last week, said officials.

Seventeen ships sank, according to state radio. More than 230 sailors were officially listed as missing on Sunday after authorities re-established radio contact with surviving vessels, revising the figure down from about 300.

As the storm tore across the South China Sea, it was briefly upgraded to a "super typhoon", meaning it packed strong winds of above 240 kilometres (150 miles) per hour.

Most of the missing sailors were from the central Vietnamese city of Danang and nearby Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces.

A Chinese rescue ship picked up 97 Vietnamese fishermen stranded on a remote island early Saturday and gave them food, water, medicines and fuel, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The crew also found 18 bodies.

"On behalf of the Vietnamese government, I would like to extend my sympathy to the victims' families and thank the Chinese government and rescue forces for their prompt assistance," said Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

Taiwan was also helping in the search, Khai said in a message, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Several ships were slowly limping home toward Danang and nearby provinces on Sunday, where hundreds of anxious relatives were praying for the safe return of loved ones.

The first ships were not expected before Monday or Tuesday. Several vessels, on weeks-long fishing trips, were as far as 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) off the Vietnamese coast when the storm hit.

"We are waiting for news every minute," said Vo Huu Son, 55, whose son, nephew and three younger brothers remained missing.

"We really want them to return home safe. We don't know what to do -- we just wait and wait, expecting more news from radio and TV. We pin our hope on the authorities and China to help our fishermen."

Danang border official Nguyen Ba Luong said: "The Vietnamese side really cannot send their ships to rescue the victims. The weather is still not good... and rescue ships would run out of fuel halfway there.

"China's help is essential to us."

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