Hanoi |The number of survivors of a cargo ship that sank Saturday off a Chinese-occupied shoal in the South China Sea rose to 48 by Tuesday as search and rescue crews hunted for more people who went down with the vessel.

A multinational search for 14 people who remain missing was still underway Tuesday afternoon involving Vietnamese, Philippine and Chinese rescuers.

Vietnamese authorities announced Monday that three more of the 62 people onboard had been saved but did not provide details of the rescue.

The Vietnamese cargo vessel Khoi Nguyen 18 sank late Saturday near Fiery Cross Reef, a Chinese-built island and military outpost in the hotly contested Spratly Islands.

The vessel went down while operating in bad weather in the East Sea, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said, adding that all 48 rescued people had been transferred to Vietnamese authorities, who were providing medical care before taking them back to the mainland.

Vietnam said it mobilised rescue operations immediately while coordinating closely with Chinese rescue ships, helicopters and other vessels in the area also joined the search.

The Philippine Coast Guard, which deployed a patrol vessel and an aircraft after receiving a request from Vietnam, said the operation was being carried out under international maritime agreements and bilateral cooperation with Vietnam.

China has become increasingly aggressive in asserting its claims in virtually the entire South China Sea, through which about USD 5 trillion in global trade transits each year. The sea passage also is believed to sit atop vast undersea deposits of oil and gas.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the strategic waterway along with China and the Philippines. (AP)