The general cargo ship *Khoi Nguyen 18* went down late on Saturday close to Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said the vessel had been operating in poor weather. Everyone on board was Vietnamese, according to the supplied reports. Authorities did not disclose circumstances of the three latest rescues.
Vietnam said all 48 survivors had been transferred into its custody. They were receiving medical attention before being returned to the mainland. Search activity remained under way on Tuesday afternoon with participation from Vietnam, China and the Philippines. Chinese vessels, helicopters and other nearby ships joined the response. The Philippine Coast Guard sent an aircraft and patrol vessel after Vietnam requested assistance, describing the deployment as cooperation under bilateral and international maritime arrangements.
The first response began at about 18:25 Beijing time on Saturday when the Chinese salvage ship *Nanhai Jiu 115* detected distress signals. It recovered 29 people from a life raft roughly half an hour later. Other Chinese rescue ships subsequently picked up seven more from another raft, and a helicopter saved two people the following morning. By Sunday afternoon, the known survivor count stood at 45 before the later Vietnamese update.
Built in 2017, the *Khoi Nguyen 18* had last appeared on the MarineTraffic automatic identification system near Vietnam in March. Large cargo vessels are required under a UN maritime safety convention joined by Vietnam to keep AIS equipment operating so their identity, location and course are transmitted. The evidence does not establish why the ship had not been detected more recently or whether its transponder status contributed to the emergency.
Fiery Cross Reef is a Chinese-built island and military installation in a contested part of the Spratlys. China claims almost all the South China Sea, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan maintain overlapping claims. About $5 trillion in trade passes through the broader waterway annually.
Despite those disputes, the immediate operation involved assets from rival claimant states working toward the same rescue objective. With 14 people still unaccounted for several days after the sinking, teams continued searching the waters around the reef while Vietnamese authorities cared for those already recovered.
The surrounding sovereignty dispute did not prevent practical coordination at sea. Vietnam mobilized its own response, China supplied ships and helicopters near the reef, and the Philippines deployed assets after a formal request. The source did not report political conditions attached to that help or disagreement over leadership of the search.
