Rescuers scour South China Sea for 17 missing after Vietnamese vessel sinks
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Two vessels and a helicopter are searching for those still missing after Khoi Nguyen 18 sank in the South China Sea.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- A Vietnamese cargo ship sank near Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea, leaving 17 people missing and 45 rescued by Chinese and Vietnamese teams.
- The Vietnamese foreign ministry coordinated search and rescue efforts with Chinese support immediately after the incident.
- The incident occurred in the disputed Spratly Islands, a contested and resource-rich area claimed by China, Vietnam, and other nations.
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HONG KONG – Rescuers were searching on July 26 for 17 people missing after a Vietnamese ship sank in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, while 45 were pulled from the waters, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said.
The Chinese authorities said cargo vessel Khoi Nguyen 18, with 62 Vietnamese nationals aboard, ran into distress in waters near Fiery Cross Reef, CCTV added.
A distress flare from the vessel was first spotted by a Chinese rescue ship, Nanhai Jiu 115, on the evening of July 25, CCTV said.
The Chinese vessel discovered a life raft with 29 people approximately 38 nautical miles north of Fiery Cross Reef. Two further rescue missions have taken the total number recovered to 45 people.
Two rescue vessels and a rescue helicopter are searching for the 17 people still missing.
The Vietnamese-registered vessel is nearly 70m long with a gross tonnage of 999 tons.
Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said that immediately after the incident, the Vietnamese authorities coordinated closely and promptly arrived at the scene.
“Vietnam deployed search-and-rescue operations, with the support of Chinese search-and-rescue forces and ships near the area,” a spokesperson told local media, thanking China for the support.
The area around the reef is part of the disputed Spratly Islands, which China calls the Nansha Islands, a group of highly contested reefs, islets and atolls in the resource-rich South China Sea.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire strategic waterway, including the Spratlys, where it has built runways and militarised artificial islands.
But Beijing’s sweeping claims overlap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. REUTERS
