23 missing after Vietnamese freighter sinks near disputed Fiery Cross Reef in South China Sea
Chinese-led search and rescue is looking for 23 sailors after the Vietnamese cargo vessel Khoi Nguyen 18 sank Saturday evening near Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. Rescuers have saved 39 of the 62 crew so far.
Sinking and distress signal
On Saturday 25 July 2026, the Vietnamese-flagged freighter Khoi Nguyen 18 sank in the Spratly Islands, carrying 62 crew members, all Vietnamese nationals. The vessel was nearly 70 metres long. It went down near Fiery Cross Reef, an artificial island garrisoned by China. At around 18:30 local time (12:30 CET), the crew fired a distress flare that was spotted by Chinese maritime rescue forces. Faced with a sinking ship, the seafarers abandoned the vessel and transferred to life rafts, which then drifted with the sea currents toward the reef.
Search-and-rescue operation
China’s Maritime Search and Rescue Centre in Sansha took charge of the response. Overnight, rescuers located two life rafts and recovered 36 survivors from the water. By Sunday morning, 26 July, another three crew members were rescued, raising the confirmed total to 39. The fate of the remaining 23 remains unknown, and the search continues. Six Chinese surface vessels, a Chinese helicopter, and one vessel dispatched by Vietnam are involved in the operation. Authorities in Hainan province stated that the ship was close to 70 metres long and that all those rescued are Vietnamese. CCTV, China’s state broadcaster, carried the details, citing the Sansha rescue centre. As of Sunday afternoon, no information had been given on the cause of the sinking or the vessel’s cargo. Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not yet commented.
- Distress flare sighted; crew abandons ship and evacuates onto life rafts.
- Two rafts located, 36 survivors rescued.
- 3 additional crew rescued, total survivors 39. Search for 23 missing continues.
- 6 Chinese ships, Chinese helicopter and Vietnamese vessel search the area.
Disputed waters
Fiery Cross Reef lies in the Spratly Archipelago, one of the most contested stretches of the South China Sea. China claims nearly the entire resource-rich area and has spent years transforming reefs into fortified military outposts, building artificial islands, runways and naval facilities. Its sovereignty assertions are disputed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague found that China’s historic rights claims have no legal standing under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. While China was leading the rescue, the operation unfolded in waters also claimed by Vietnam, under whose flag the vessel and crew belonged.
