At least 2 sailors dead after cargo ship sinks in disputed South China Sea

A Singapore-flagged cargo vas with 21 Filipino sailors connected committee capsizes, sidesplitting 2 and leaving 4 missing.

At slightest 2 sailors person died and 15 others person been rescued aft a Singapore-flagged cargo vas with 21 Filipinos connected committee capsized successful the disputed waters of the South China Sea, leaving 4 missing, according to authorities successful China and the Philippines.

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said the Chinese coastguard sent 2 vessels to assistance aft the vessel capsized successful the aboriginal hours of Friday, astir 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Scarborough Shoal (known successful China arsenic Huangyan Dao).

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The Philippines coastguard said successful a connection connected Friday that it sent 2 vessels and 2 craft to assistance successful rescue operations for the unit of the cargo vessel it identified arsenic the Devon Bay.

The Chinese rescuers pulled astatine slightest 17 Filipino sailors – 14 successful a unchangeable condition, 1 who was receiving attraction and the bodies of 2 who had died – from the water, according to a connection posted connected societal media web Weibo by China’s Southern Theater Command.

China’s coastguard sent 2 vessels to rescue Filipino unit members aft a Singapore-flagged cargo capsized [AFP]

The Associated Press quality bureau reported that interaction with the vessel was mislaid connected Thursday nighttime arsenic it sailed to Guangdong state successful China’s south.

The Maritime ​and Port Authority of Singapore confirmed that the bulk carrier, Devon Bay, sank successful the South China Sea portion en way to Yangjiang.

“As the vessel’s emblem state, MPA is successful interaction with the vessel proprietor and applicable hunt and rescue authorities, and is providing enactment arsenic required,” it said, adding that it ‌will analyse the incident.

The fish-rich country of Scarborough Shoal is the tract of predominant showdowns betwixt Chinese and Philippine ships.

China and the Philippines some assertion the area, but sovereignty remains unresolved. China took power successful 2012 aft a standoff and has since stationed its coastguard and sportfishing vessels there.

A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration ‌in The Hague invalidated China’s sweeping claims implicit the South China Sea and declared its blockade illegal, affirming the shoal arsenic a accepted sportfishing crushed for countries similar the Philippines and Vietnam. China rejected the ‍ruling.

China’s claims overlap with the exclusive economical zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

A Chinese navy vessel accidentally collided with a Chinese coastguard vessel successful August portion trying to artifact a Philippine coastguard vas adjacent Scarborough Shoal.