China rescues 17 Filipino sailors in South China Sea shipwreck, 4 still missing

Chinese rescue teams retrieved 17 Filipino crew members from a shipwreck in the South China Sea, authorities said on Friday.

Fifteen of those rescued were in stable condition, while two were found dead. Four others remained missing as of Friday evening.

At 00:46 on Friday, the Sansha maritime search and rescue branch received a report from the Hainan provincial maritime search and rescue center, which said a Singapore-registered cargo ship "DEVON BAY", en route from the Philippines to south China's Guangdong Province, had lost contact in waters about 55 nautical miles northwest of China's Huangyan Dao, with 21 Filipino crew members on board.

According to the provincial center, the last contact with the ship was at 21:26 on Thursday, when the ship crew reported that the hull had tilted severely and water was flooding in. Contact was lost after that, while the ship's emergency wireless position indicator later sent out an alarm signal.

Upon receiving the report, the Sansha maritime search and rescue branch immediately launched a multi-agency international rescue operation.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command sent military aircraft to conduct search operations over the waters where the accident occurred. Two nearby China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels also joined the rescue mission, along with teams from the Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport.

Multiple international commercial vessels, including ships registered in Liberia, Panama and Japan, also joined the search operation.

At 04:28 on Friday, CCG vessels found and rescued four crew members from a lifeboat. Severe sea conditions, with high winds and rough waves, posed significant challenges to the rescue operation. The search and rescue effort is still ongoing, authorities said.

The 15 Filipino sailors in stable condition have received medical treatment and are under proper care aboard a Chinese vessel, according to the CCG.

"I really feel very safe in China Coast Guard [vessel], taking me from water to the accommodation. I really feel safe. And at nighttime, I seen (saw) a Coast Guard [vessel] that was moving around the area, and that is why at that time, I am (was) telling myself that 'No, I will not die at this time, I will survive,'" said one of the rescued sailors.

China rescues 17 Filipino sailors in South China Sea shipwreck, 4 still missing

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended slightly higher on Monday while Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a decline, according to Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN).

The Hang Seng Index went up 0.06 percent to close at 26,765.52 points on Monday and the benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, dropped by 1.79 percent to end at 52,885.25 points.

"The Hang Seng managed to claw back some earlier losses and end the session flat. The big supporting factor in Hong Kong was also Chinese energy and metals stocks. I said miners were going gangbusters, well, Zijin Mining surged to a record high at one point today, adding 7.8 percent, but closed 4.4 percent higher, paring those gains a little bit. Zijin mines copper as well as gold and announced today that an expansion of a Chinese copper mine project was now up and running. Its Hong Kong shares have risen almost 18 percent since the start of this year, and its Shanghai stock has also made some pretty comfortable double digit gains. The downside in Hong Kong today was also the same story as the Chinese mainland - it was tech. The Hang Seng Tech Index shed 1.2 percent by the end of the session," he said.

Popo said the decline in the Tokyo market was caused by fears of a joint Japanese-US currency intervention.

"Over in Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was down 1.8 percent as investors were on guard for a potential joint Japanese-US currency intervention. The Japanese Prime Minister said all necessary steps would be taken to act against abnormal market moves, but she was fairly non-specific. The yen surged on Friday after the New York Fed reportedly conducted a rate check, and it was up again today to a more than three-month high. The intervention would be to stem yen declines, but it's not clear if that threat has been averted as yet. But Japan's exporter heavy markets were down on the currency gains today, automaker stocks like Nissan and Honda traded significantly lower, as did the tech investor Softbank, it was one of the Nikkei's heaviest decliners. Conversely, of course, it was good for importer stocks, but those gains didn't do nearly enough to outweigh the very broad-based losses that we saw in Monday's session in Tokyo," he said.

Hong Kong stock markets edge higher, Tokyo stocks decline amid currency fluctuations: analyst