Search teams were continuing operations near Fiery Cross Reef after the Vietnam-flagged cargo vessel Khoi Nguyen 18 sank with 62 Vietnamese nationals aboard.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 45 people had been rescued by midday on 26 July, while 17 remained unaccounted for. Vietnamese fishing vessels operating in the area joined the official search and rescue response.
The ministry said the vessel was operating in poor weather when it sank. Vietnamese agencies deployed resources after receiving a report of the incident.
According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, maritime authorities in Hainan province identified the vessel as Khoi Nguyen 18 and located the distress position near Fiery Cross Reef, which China administers as Yongshu Reef.
The alert was raised at about 6:23 pm local time on Saturday. China’s rescue vessel Nanhai Jiu 115 sighted what was believed to be a rocket parachute distress flare, Xinhua reported.
Six Chinese vessels, one rescue helicopter and one Vietnamese vessel were involved in the operation on Sunday. Nanhai Jiu 115 is operated by the Nanhai Rescue Bureau of China’s Ministry of Transport, which maintains rescue and salvage units at the reef.
Vietnam later confirmed that 45 people had been recovered alive. Earlier reports from Chinese state media had given lower totals of 37 and 39.
Neither government had confirmed any fatalities, and no bodies had been reported recovered.
Built in 2017, Khoi Nguyen 18 is a general cargo vessel measuring 69.9 m in length with a beam of 10.8 m. It has a gross tonnage of 999 and a deadweight of just over 1,900 t.
Authorities did not provide further details about those aboard. They also did not disclose the vessel’s cargo or destination.
Fiery Cross Reef forms part of the Spratly Islands, which are claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China has developed the feature into an artificial island with a runway, port infrastructure and a maritime rescue centre.
Vietnam thanked the Chinese search and rescue units involved and said both sides were expected to continue cooperating in the search for the missing people.
Operations remained underway on Sunday evening. No cause had been established beyond the poor weather conditions reported by Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
