- A Vietnamese cargo vessel carrying 62 individuals on board sank during severe weather conditions in the disputed South China Sea, prompting a large-scale emergency response.
- Bilateral rescue operations involving Vietnamese and Chinese maritime units, helicopters, and nearby fishing vessels succeeded in pulling 45 survivors safely from the water.
- Emergency teams continue intensive search-and-rescue operations around the Spratly Archipelago to locate the 17 remaining crew members and passengers still unaccounted for.
An intensive search-and-rescue operation is underway in the South China Sea after a Vietnamese-flagged cargo ship carrying 62 people sank amidst severe weather conditions near the Spratly Islands.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the vessel, identified as the Khoi Nguyen 18, encountered severe distress and foundered on Sunday near Yongshu Reef, also known as Fiery Cross Reef, an atoll in the Spratly archipelago claimed by both Vietnam and China.
EDITOR’S PICKS
- FG Partners With Chinese Investors To Secure Land For 10,000-Home Mass Housing Project
- Intelligence Materials Were Shared With US, Not Seized – DHQ
- Man Arraigned in Adamawa Over Alleged Abuse Involving Daughter
Confirming the incident, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang stated that maritime authorities immediately dispatched emergency teams after receiving reports that the nearly 70-meter cargo ship had succumbed to rough seas in the strategic waterway.
By Sunday afternoon, joint search operations had successfully rescued 45 individuals, leaving 17 people unaccounted for as rescue teams raced against time amidst challenging maritime conditions.
Chinese state media reported that a Chinese rescue vessel first detected distress signals from the vessel on Saturday evening.
In response, six Chinese rescue ships, a specialized search-and-rescue helicopter, and a Vietnamese vessel were deployed to coordinate sweep operations across the affected sector.
The tragedy comes just days after a separate maritime incident in the same region on Friday, where a Vietnamese fishing vessel sank in severe weather near West Reef in the Spratlys.
While 33 fishermen were safely rescued by nearby vessels and brought to an atoll for medical care, three fishermen remain missing.
The South China Sea serves as a critical global maritime trade corridor, carrying more than a quarter of all international sea trade annually.
However, territorial overlaps involving Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan frequently complicate regional operations, even as humanitarian search-and-rescue protocols mandate collaborative responses during maritime disasters.
Search teams, supported by local commercial vessels and naval assets, are continuing surface and aerial sweeps across the Spratly island chain in hopes of locating the missing crew members.
