MSC HERMES III Abandoned in the South China Sea

Incident Overview

All 25 crew members of the Liberia-registered container vessel MSC HERMES III abandoned the ship in the South China Sea, on September 22, 2026. All 25 crew were recovered by a nearby container ship and were reported safe with no injuries. The vessel remained afloat and drifted unmanned; the reason for the abandonment was not officially explained.

Incident Timeline

• On September 22 at about 8:45 a.m. Singapore time, MRCC Singapore received a distress alert from MSC HERMES III.

• The crew abandoned MSC HERMES III and the container ship MSC RUBY recovered all 25 people from a lifeboat; all crew were reported safe with no injuries.

• Following the evacuation the container ship remained afloat and drifted northeast unmanned.

Track MSC HERMES III live to monitor its current position and full route history in real time on ShipFinder.