45 Rescued, 17 Missing After Cargo Ship Sinks In South China Sea

Rescuers pulled 45 people alive from the South China Sea after the Vietnamese cargo ship Khoi Nguyen 18 sank near Fiery Cross Reef with 62 aboard, leaving 17 unaccounted for, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry spokesperson said the vessel went down while operating in poor weather and that Vietnamese agencies moved to the scene as soon as the loss was reported. According to the statement, the number of people rescued was 45 as of midday on Sunday, 26 July, and said Vietnamese fishing vessels working nearby had joined the search alongside the official response.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that maritime authorities in Hainan province identified the vessel as Khoi Nguyen 18 with 62 Vietnamese nationals aboard and placed the distress position in waters near Fiery Cross Reef, which China administers as Yongshu Reef. The alarm was raised at about 6:23 pm local time on Saturday, when the Chinese rescue ship Nanhai Jiu 115 sighted what was assessed to be a rocket parachute distress flare, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Six Chinese vessels, a rescue helicopter and one Vietnamese ship were working on the rescue through Sunday, according to Xinhua. The Nanhai Jiu 115 vessel belongs to the Nanhai Rescue Bureau of China’s Ministry of Transport, which maintains salvage and rescue units stationed at the reef.

Chinese state media first reported 37 rescued, then revised the figure to 39 in a second bulletin on Sunday morning, before Hanoi gave the higher count of 45. Neither government has released a confirmed death toll, and no bodies had been reported recovered.

Khoi Nguyen 18 is a Vietnam-flagged general cargo vessel built in 2017, measuring 69.9 metres in length with a 10.8-metre beam, a gross tonnage of 999 and a deadweight of just over 1,900 tonnes. The reported number of crew of 62 sits far above the manning level a coastal cargo ship of that size would normally carry, and neither Vietnamese nor Chinese authorities have explained who else was aboard, what the ship was carrying, or where it was bound.

Fiery Cross Reef lies in the Spratly Islands, a contested group of reefs, atolls and islets claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China has built the feature into an artificial island carrying a runway, port infrastructure and a maritime rescue centre, and has claimed sovereignty over almost the entire waterway despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that found no legal basis for that claim. Vietnam thanked Chinese search and rescue units for their response and said Hanoi expected the two sides to keep working together to find those still missing.

Search operations around Fiery Cross Reef were continuing on Sunday evening, with no cause established for the loss of Khoi Nguyen 18 beyond the weather conditions described by Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry.

Reference: Xinhua / Reuters/AFP