All 25 crew members of the Liberia-registered container ship MSC Hermes III were safely recovered after an emergency in the South China Sea on 22 September.
Singapore’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) received a distress alert from the vessel at about 08:45 Singapore time while it was approximately 300 km east of Vietnam. The location was within Singapore’s Maritime Search and Rescue Region, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
MRCC Singapore issued a request for assistance to vessels operating in the area. Three ships responded to the call.
The crew of MSC Hermes III subsequently left the vessel using a lifeboat. MSC Ruby, one of the ships responding to the emergency, took all 25 seafarers aboard. No injuries were reported.
At the time of the incident, MSC Hermes III was travelling from Shanghai to Jakarta. MSC Ruby was sailing from Singapore toward Ningbo, while MSC Florentina, which was also in the area, was on a voyage from Paranagua to Ningbo.
Singapore is responsible for coordinating maritime search-and-rescue operations across an area of the South China Sea covering more than 1 million sq km. Following the rescue, MRCC Singapore began coordinating with Vietnamese authorities over arrangements to bring the crew safely ashore.
The MPA did not disclose the cause of the emergency. No further information was provided on MSC Hermes III following the crew evacuation.
