All 25 crew members of the container ship MSC Hermes III have been rescued after they abandoned the vessel in the South China Sea, Singapore’s Maritime & Port Authority (MPA) said. The 20-year-old, 2,490-TEU vessel issued a distress call at about 8.45am Singapore time on Tuesday while sailing through the South China Sea.
The Liberia-registered ship was approximately 300km east of Vietnam when the distress call was received. Singapore’s Maritime Search and Rescue Region and Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Singapore subsequently rebroadcast the alert. Three vessels responded, with another MSC container ship, MSC Ruby, rescuing all 25 crew members from a lifeboat after they had abandoned the MSC Hermes III.
All crew members were reported to be safe and uninjured. The circumstances that prompted the crew to abandon the vessel remain unclear. AIS data from Pole Star Global showed the MSC Hermes III had been sailing from Hong Kong to Jakarta before the incident. Following the evacuation, the container ship appeared to be drifting north-eastwards in the South China Sea, with the MSC Ruby remaining in the vicinity.
Two other MSC vessels, MSC Florentina and MSC Turin III, were also reported to be nearby. “MRCC Singapore is coordinating with the Vietnamese MRCC on arrangements for the rescued crew members to return safely to shore,” the MPA said in a statement.