China and the Philippines said on Friday they launched rescue operations after receiving reports of a distressed cargo ship near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea which was carrying 21 Philippine crew members.
The Chinese military said two crew had died and 17 had been rescued, after a report around 1:30 a.m. on Friday (1730 GMT on Thursday) that a foreign cargo vessel had capsized in waters near the shoal. It dispatched aircraft to conduct searches and the Chinese Coast Guard sent two vessels for rescue efforts.
One person was receiving emergency medical treatment, it said, adding that China’s maritime authorities were organizing additional rescue forces to head to the area.
The Philippine Coast Guard said it deployed two vessels and two aircraft to rescue the Philippine crew from a Singaporean-flagged cargo vessel loaded with iron ore that was en route to southern Chinese city of Yangjiang.
“The PCG Command Center acquired information from the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Center that 10 of the 21 Filipino crew members were rescued by a passing China Coast Guard vessel,” it said.
Scarborough Shoal is one of Asia’s most contested maritime features and a frequent flashpoint in disputes over sovereignty and fishing rights.
On Tuesday, the Chinese military said it organized naval and air force units to drive away a Philippine government aircraft that it accused of “illegally intruding” into airspace over the atoll.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, overlapping the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
