Yuan Quan [Photo provided to China Daily]

Over the past five years, producer Li Yu has concentrated on the 36-episode TV series The Blue Sea of Ambition, China's first screen production to feature the life and work of marine rescuers.

The series will air on Shandong Satellite TV and State broadcaster CCTV as well as the streaming site v.qq.com from Thursday, with two episodes shown each night.

A former journalist from CCTV, Li once interviewed many people from the China Rescue and Salvage unit of the Ministry of Transport.

It is the country's only such national force that rescues survivors and salvages wrecks, and she has become a friend of the unit.

A rescuer's work includes recovering the corpses of victims. Besides, the working environment is dangerous most of the times as storms that have sunk ships have yet to calm down when they dive into the waters.

"They (members of the unit) are the people who come close to death but at the same time, they show respect to the departed. Every time they discover a corpse, they softly say: 'We'll take you home.' It's like a ceremony, and they believe the words rest souls," Li says during a telephone interview with China Daily.