Rescuers are searching for 23 missing people after a Vietnamese ship carrying 62 crew members sank in the South China Sea, Chinese state media reported on Sunday (July 26, 20260 morning.

The cargo vessel Khoi Nguyen 18 encountered trouble near Yongshu Reef, also known as Fiery Cross Reef, state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that 39 people had been rescued.

A Chinese rescue vessel first spotted what was believed to be a distress signal from the endangered ship shortly before 6:30 pm on Saturday (1030 GMT), state news agency Xinhua said.

Six Chinese vessels and a rescue helicopter as well as one Vietnamese vessel were conducting search and rescue operations in the area, Xinhua said.

According to authorities in the Chinese island province of Hainan, the Khoi Nguyen 18 is a Vietnamese-registered ship measuring just under 70 metres in length, Xinhua added.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Beijing claims the South China Sea in nearly its entirety, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Vietnam, along with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, have competing claims to areas of the busy waterway, including the Spratlys, which are believed to sit on vast oil and gas resources.

The story so far: Fifteen Indian tourists died after a boat overturned in the rough seas off May Rut Ngoai islet in Vietnam’s Phu Quoc on July 11, 2026. The speedboat, bearing registration number AG 26751, operated by Minh Huy Phu Quoc Trading and Tourism Co. Ltd., was ferrying 32 Indian tourists and four crew members from Hon May Rut to An Thoi Port. It capsized about 400 metres off May Rut Ngoai. Vietnamese media quoted locals operating nearby boats as saying that the sea off An Thoi was rough at the time of the accident, though there was no rain.

What action has Vietnam taken?

Hours after the tragedy, Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung ordered a probe into the cause of the accident, directing authorities to fix accountability. The country’s Ministry of Public Security wrote on its website that the boat “suddenly encountered big waves, strong winds overturned, causing all crew and passengers to fall into the sea.”

A day later, on July 12, Vietnamese police “decided to detain and launch criminal proceedings against a local man for alleged legal violations”, reported VN Express. The detainee, Nguyen Hong Hai, 57, was the boat’s captain. A company official had told Vietnamese media earlier that “the captain… had many years of experience operating passenger boats.”

The government formed two working groups to help families of victims and coordinate with relevant agencies, the Embassy of Vietnam in India, the Embassy of India in Hamoi, and the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City for consular and citizen protection work, and ensure early repatriation of the dead.

Were there any violations?

Although the Vietnamese government has not explicitly flagged any violations such as overloading, or the boat’s captain ignoring weather warning as yet, the country’s Construction Ministry issued a note urging authorities to “urgently strengthen” measures to ensure “order and safety of inland waterway and maritime traffic”. It wanted stakeholders to “promptly overcome inadequacies and risks of unsafety to prevent similar accidents.” It told authorities concerned to review the safety of inland waterway and maritime traffic “in the area where the accident occurred and areas with similar conditions”. The Ministry stressed on the “observance of legal provisions on ensuring waterway and maritime traffic safety” in extreme weather conditions.

The Vietnamese government held a meeting in which representatives of its Foreign Affairs Ministry, Construction Ministry, Navy, and Coast Guard “evaluate(d) the overcoming of the consequences of the canoe capsizing (in) Phu Quoc”, reported Vietnamese news outlet Tuoi Tre.

The report said that an official of the People’s Committee told the police to “quickly investigate and clarify the cause of the accident to strictly handle violating organizations and individuals.”

The official said that forces “must pay attention to tightening the management of transportation, general inspection of waterway safety processes throughout the area…”

He spoke about “absolutely not granting departure permits for any vehicle if they do not fully ensure safety conditions, life jackets and techniques as prescribed”.

What happens next?

Phu Quoc is a tourism hotspot and hosted 5.7 million tourists in the first half of the year, up 30% year-on-year; these included 1.32 million foreign tourists, up 50% year-on-year, according to the province’s Department of Tourism. The number of tourists from India were up 45.6% during this period, the department said. Russians visited the country in droves, with tourist inflows jumping by 186% compared to last year.

Following the accident, speedboat operators have suspended operations citing weather conditions. A director of a speedboat company told the news outlet Tuoi Tre (Youth) that he has cancelled “more than 20 speedboat tours for foreign visitors to Phu Quoc”.

The company has instructed its staff to “strictly follow safety procedures, ensure passengers are provided with life jackets, and never carry more passengers than the permitted capacity”.

Referring to the accident that happened during an island-hopping trip, the company director said that “narrow channels” separating the islands in the An Thoi archipelago create an “attractive island-hopping route” but also pose risks during rough weather. “Strong waves and complex currents often develop in the gaps between the islands, requiring speedboats to slow down significantly when passing through these areas,” the report said.

)

Vietnam and the European Union said on ‍Thursday (January 29, 2026) they elevated diplomatic relations, as both sides seek to ​expand international partnerships amid global disruptions.

The largely diplomatic ‌move entails no binding commitments but carries ​political weight at a time when the EU and Vietnam are seeking to deepen international ties as they both face up to higher levies on their exports to the United States.

The upgrade is “a historical milestone underlining the great achievements that the ​two sides have made,” Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong ⁠said at the start of a meeting in Hanoi with European Council President Antonio Costa.

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam ​and the 27-country EU entered ⁠into force in 2020.

Mr. Costa, who arrived in Hanoi after the EU struck a major trade deal with India on Tuesday (January 27, 2026), said the upgraded partnership “highlights ‌the importance we attach to the region ‌and to Vietnam’s growing role”.

“At a moment when the international rules-based order is under threat ‍from multiple sides, we need to start to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners,” ‍Mr. Costa added.

The elevation of ties to Vietnam’s highest level, the same as the United States, China and Russia, usually involves more frequent high-level meetings.

It is also expected to generate a stronger partnership, according to a joint statement adopted on Thursday (January 29, 2026), which says the two sides will explore and deepen cooperation in ⁠multiple sectors, including defence, critical minerals, semiconductors, transport and “trusted communications infrastructure”, confirming a Reuters report on Wednesday (January 28, 2026).

Mr. Costa ​acknowledged different views with Vietnam, a long-time Russian partner, ⁠over the war in Ukraine and human rights. But he added that the two countries agree on their support of multilateralism and “the principles of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Tropical storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said on Sunday (November 30, 2025), as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast.

Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported.

Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the environment ministry. It said a total of three people were killed and authorities were still searching for a fourth.

Koto was more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) offshore Sunday morning, having been downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm.

Vietnam’s weather bureau said it was moving slowly and expected to weaken further before colliding with the coast next week.

It forecast rains of up to 150 millimetres (six inches) on Tuesday and Wednesday from Hue to Khanh Hoa — regions that have only just recovered from historic floods.

Vietnam is in one of the most active tropical cyclone regions on Earth and is typically affected by 10 typhoons or storms a year, but Koto is the 15th of 2025.

Natural disasters have left more than 400 people dead or missing this year in Vietnam and caused more than $3 billion in damage, according to the national statistics office.

The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientists have identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive.

The death toll from major flooding in Vietnam has risen to 90, with 12 people still missing, the Environment Ministry said Sunday (November 23, 2025), after days of heavy rain and landslides.

Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October, and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding. Whole sections of coastal Nha Trang city were inundated last week, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub.

In the hard-hit mountainous Province of Dak Lak, 61-year-old farmer Mach Van Si said the floodwaters left him and his wife stranded on their sheet-metal rooftop for two nights.

“Our neighbourhood was destroyed. Nothing was left. Everything was covered in mud,” Mr. Si told AFP on Sunday (November 23). By the time they climbed a ladder to their roof, Mr. Si said he was no longer scared. “I just thought we were going to die because there was no way out,” he said.

“More than 60 deaths recorded since November 16 were in Dak Lak, where tens of thousands of homes were inundated,” the Environment Ministry said in a statement.

Four communes in Dak Lak were still flooded on Sunday (November 23), the Ministry said, “More than 80,000 hectares of rice and other crops across Dak Lak and four other Provinces were damaged in the last week, with over 3.2 million livestock or poultry dead or washed away by floodwaters.”

This aerial photo shows a building submerged in flooding in Dak Lak, Vietnam on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025 after Typhoon Kalmaegi lashed Vietnam with fierce winds and torrential rains.
| Photo Credit:
AP

Authorities have used helicopters to airdrop aid to communities cut off by flooding and landslides, with the government deploying tens of thousands of personnel to deliver clothing, water-purification tablets, instant noodles and other supplies to affected areas, State outlet Tuoi Tre News said.

Severe flooding in Southern coastal Khanh Hoa Province washed away two suspension bridges last week, leaving many households isolated, the outlet said, citing officials.

Several locations on National Highways remained blocked on Sunday (November 23) due to flooding or landslides, according to the Environment Ministry, and some railway sections were still suspended.

More than 129,000 customers remained without electricity, after more than a million were without power last week. The Environment Ministry on Sunday (November 23) estimated economic losses of $343 million across five Provinces due to the floods.

Natural disasters have left 279 people dead or missing in Vietnam and caused more than $2 billion in damage between January and October, according to the National Statistics Office.

The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientists have identified a pattern of human-driven climatxe change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive.