The Vietnamese-flagged vessel "KHOI NGUYEN 18" sank in waters near Yongshu Reef in the South China Sea on the night of July 24, with 62 crew members on board. So far, 45 people have been rescued, while 17 remain missing. Six Chinese vessels, one rescue helicopter, and one Vietnamese vessel are conducting search and rescue operations at the scene, with efforts still ongoing.
At approximately 18:23 on July 25, the rescue vessel "Nanhai Jiu 115" from the Ministry of Transport's South China Sea Rescue Bureau detected what appeared to be a distress signal on the sea surface near Yongshu Reef. Upon further observation, a life raft carrying multiple people was confirmed at the location. At 18:24, "Nanhai Jiu 115" approached for verification, and those on the life raft waved clothing to signal for help. At 18:47, the rescue vessel came alongside the raft to begin boarding operations. By 18:54, all 29 distressed individuals on the life raft had been safely transferred to the rescue vessel. At 22:38 on July 25, "Nanhai Jiu 115" located a second life raft during the search and rescued 7 more Today (July 26), under the unified coordination of the Sansha Maritime Search and Rescue Centre, various rescue units at the scene have successively rescued another nine distressed individuals. Among them, one person was spotted by the rescue vessel "Nanhai Jiu 113" at 1:30 pm today during a search approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of the first life raft, and was successfully rescued at 1:41 pm. At present, two rescue vessels and one rescue helicopter remain at the scene continuing the search operation.
According to the Sansha Maritime Search and Rescue Centre, the vessel in distress was the Vietnamese-flagged "KHOI NGUYEN 18," measuring 69.9 metres in length and 10.8 metres in width, with 62 people on board.
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