Hanoi, Oct 7 (IANS/EFE): Vietnamese authorities Tuesday started searching for a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker that went missing in the South China Sea last Friday with a crew of 18, a media report said.
It said contact with the Sunrise-689 was lost Friday when the tanker was sailing back from Singapore with 5,200 tonnes of oil, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
Owned by the Hai Phong Joint Stock Seafood Shipbuilding Company, the Sunrise-689 set off from Singapore Oct 2 en route to the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Tri, according to the source.
The government of Vietnam has requested assistance from neighbouring countries, including China, through regional agreements to fight piracy.
The South China Sea and Strait of Malacca are major global maritime trade routes and so experience the world's largest number of incidents of piracy.