A FISHING boat that capsized last week off Pangasinan after it was hit by a foreign oil tanker was found yesterday by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Three died in the incident.
PCG spokesman Rear Adm. Armand Balilo said the BRP Malapascua found FB Dearyn some 180 nautical miles off Agno, Pangasinan at around 12:40 p.m. or two days after a PCG aircraft failed to locate it. BRP Malapascua was dispatched last Sunday.
Balilo said the boat is “reportedly in bad condition and would require to be lifted onboard a salvor ship to prevent further damaging the boat that would be used in the investigation of the collision with a crude oil tanker MT Pacific Anna.”
MT Pacific Anna was en route to Singapore, from South Korea, when it hit the fishing boat. Officials surmised the foreign failed to notice the fishing boat due to bad weather, poor visibility, and rough sea condition at that time.
“From its initial position of being capsized on its left side, with its two outriggers already detached and its plywood-made bow already missing, the fishing boat was reported to be floating,” said Balilo.
Balilo said a salvor ship was scheduled to leave Navotas City last night to recover the boat. He said it may take around two days for the salvor ship to reach the location of FB Dearyn and “another two to three days to reach the shore (with FB Dearyn).”
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, earlier yesterday said an aircraft dispatched by the PCG last Saturday failed to find the boat, so it sent the BRP Malapascua.
Tarriela said the fishing boat will aid in the ongoing PCG investigation.
“It will support the claim of the fishermen about a motor tanker that rammed them off Pangasinan,” he said Tarriela, referring to the Marshall Islands-flagged MV Pacific Anna.
The incident resulted in the death of boat captain Dexter Laudencia and crew members Romeo Mejeco and Benedicto Olandria, all of Subic, Zambales.
Three occupants of the boat survived the mishap. Eight other crewmembers were not aboard at that time of the incident as they went fishing on board service boats.
Tarriela said the PCG has already written Marshall Islands. “Our intention there is for the flag state administration to reach out to the owner (of the vessel) and to advise them to be cooperative in the ongoing investigation that we are conducting,” he said.
Tarriela also said PCG has also written the Port State Control Authority of Singapore “for the conduct of inspection” on the foreign vessel currently docked in Singapore.
