Dramatic incident in South China Sea mobilized international rescue teams on Sunday morning.
The Vietnamese cargo ship Khoi Nguyen 18, carrying 62 sailors, was wrecked and sank near the Spratly archipelago. To 07:44 Bulgarian time on July 26, 2026 rescuers managed to pull 39 people out of the stormy waters, while 23 sailors remain missing.
According to initial data released by Chinese state television CCTV and cited by world agencies, the cargo ship, nearly 70 meters long and with a gross weight of 999 tons, ran into trouble in the area of the reef Fiery Cross Reef. A distress call was made via flares, initially spotted by the Chinese rescue ship Nanhai Jiu 115 on Saturday evening.
In the heavy search and rescue operation in the South China Sea involves six Chinese ships, a specialized rescue helicopter and a Vietnamese vessel. Weather conditions and rough seas are making it difficult for the teams to operate, but the operation is continuing at full speed. The reef where the incident occurred is located in a highly contested area where the geopolitical claims of China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei often overlap.
The news of the shipwreck has been confirmed by official news channels. More details about the rescue operation and the condition of the surviving sailors can be found in the full report of the international information platform (https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/rescuers-scour-south-china-sea-034824334.html), as well as in the detailed chronicles of regional sources (https://www.finedayradio.com/news/world-srn-news/rescuers-scour-south-china-sea-for-23-missing-after-vietnamese-vessel-sinks/).