As of Sunday afternoon, 45 survivors had been rescued and the search for the others was continuing, state broadcaster CCTV reported. All those on board were Vietnamese nationals.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry said the vessel “sank while operating in bad weather”, adding that the search for survivors was being carried out “with assistance from Chinese rescue forces – using ships and helicopters – and from vessels near the area of the accident”.
The rescue operation began around 6.25pm Beijing time on Saturday after the Chinese salvage vessel Nanhai Jiu 115 spotted distress signals.
The Chinese ship rescued all 29 people aboard on a life raft about half an hour later, and Chinese rescue ships picked up a raft carrying another seven people later in the evening while a helicopter saved another two people the following morning.
The accident happened at the height of the typhoon season and CCTV said changing weather and sea conditions significantly increased the difficulty of the rescue operation.
