23 Missing After Vietnamese Cargo Ship Sinks in South China Sea

Rescue teams are searching for 23 people after a Vietnamese cargo vessel sank in the South China Sea, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.

According to authorities in China's southern island province of Hainan, the cargo ship Khoi Nguyen 18 encountered difficulties near Yongshu Reef, also known as Fiery Cross Reef, in the disputed Spratly Islands.

The vessel was carrying 62 crew members. So far, 39 people have been rescued, while search-and-rescue operations remain underway.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the Chinese rescue ship Nanhai Jiu 115 first detected what was believed to be a distress flare from the vessel shortly before 6:30 p.m. local time on Saturday.

The Khoi Nguyen 18, a Vietnamese-registered cargo ship measuring nearly 70 metres in length, is being searched for by a joint rescue effort involving six Chinese vessels, a rescue helicopter and a Vietnamese ship, according to Xinhua.

The incident occurred in the South China Sea, a strategically important and heavily contested waterway. China claims sovereignty over most of the region despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that rejected the legal basis for its expansive claims.

The Spratly Islands, where the vessel sank, remain one of the region's most disputed areas, with overlapping territorial claims by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. 

China has built military facilities and airstrips on several artificial islands in the archipelago, making the area a persistent source of geopolitical tension.