Hanoi, Jul. 26 (BNA): The Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry said that a Vietnamese cargo ship carrying 62 crew members sank due to bad weather in the South China Sea, leaving 17 people missing, while 45 others were rescued.
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said the ship "Khoi Nguyen 18" sank while sailing in bad weather near the disputed Fiery Cross Reef area in the South China Sea, Reuters reported.
Hang confirmed that Vietnamese authorities responded immediately after receiving reports of the incident, coordinating with Chinese search and rescue teams and vessels operating in the nearby area. She noted that by Sunday afternoon, rescue teams had managed to save 45 crew members, while intensive efforts to search for the 17 missing people were continuing.
The South China Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and is frequently affected by severe seasonal storms. It is also an area with overlapping territorial claims involving the People’s Republic of China, Vietnam and several Southeast Asian countries. Hang expressed her thanks to the Chinese authorities for their swift support in the rescue operations and looked forward to continued close cooperation between the two sides to find the remaining missing people.
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