Rescuers are searching the South China Sea for 23 missing individuals after a Vietnamese cargo vessel, the Khoi Nguyen 18, sank near Fiery Cross Reef. Thirty-nine people have been rescued.
The incident highlights the ongoing maritime risks in the strategically vital and disputed South China Sea, where multiple nations have overlapping territorial claims.
Rescuers were searching the South China Sea for 23 missing individuals on Sunday after a Vietnamese cargo vessel, the Khoi Nguyen 18, sank. China's state broadcaster CCTV reported that 39 people had been rescued from the waters.
The vessel, carrying 62 Vietnamese nationals, encountered distress in waters near Fiery Cross Reef, according to authorities in China's southern province of Hainan. A distress flare from the ship was first observed by the Chinese rescue vessel Nanhai Jiu 115 on Saturday evening.
Six Chinese vessels, a rescue helicopter, and a Vietnamese vessel have joined the search and rescue operation at the site. The Khoi Nguyen 18 is approximately 70 meters long with a gross tonnage of 999 tons.
The area around Fiery Cross Reef is part of the Spratly Islands, a highly contested region in the South China Sea where China has established military outposts on artificial islands. Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire waterway, a claim that overlaps with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei.