China rescues 45 Vietnamese crew members in distress

According to the Ministry of Transport's Salvage and Rescue Bureau, a Vietnamese-flagged vessel encountered distress and sank in the Nansha waters, with a total of 62 crew members on board. As of 16:00 on July 26, China has rescued a total of 45 distressed individuals.

It is reported that the distressed vessel encountered trouble and sank on the night of July 24. The distressed individuals drifted with the ocean currents on liferafts to the waters near Yongshu Reef in the Nansha Islands. On its return voyage to Sanya, the Nanhai Rescue Bureau's vessel "Nanhai Jiu 115" successively discovered two liferafts in the waters north of Yongshu Reef, rescuing a total of 36 distressed individuals. During this period, the Nanhai Rescue Bureau dispatched the vessel "Nanhai Jiu 113" and the rescue helicopter "B-72CT" to the scene for search and rescue. On July 26, under the unified coordination of the Sansha Maritime Search and Rescue Sub-center, various forces at the scene successively rescued 9 more distressed individuals.

Currently, 17 crew members of the distressed vessel remain missing, and search and rescue efforts are ongoing.