HONG KONG (REUTERS)

Rescuers were searching on Sunday for 23 people missing after a Vietnamese ship ​sank in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, while 39 were pulled from the waters, ⁠China's state broadcaster CCTV said.

Authorities in the ​southern province of Hainan said the cargo ​vessel ‌Khoi Nguyen 18, ⁠with ​62 Vietnamese nationals aboard, ran into distress in waters near Fiery Cross Reef, CCTV added.

A distress flare from the vessel was ‌first spotted by a Chinese rescue ship, ‌the Nanhai Jiu 115, on Saturday evening, CCTV said.

Six Chinese vessels, a rescue helicopter, ​and a Vietnamese vessel joined the search and rescue effort at the site, it said.

The Vietnamese-registered vessel is nearly 70 metres long with a ‌gross tonnage of ​999 tons.