THE Philippine Coast Guard and other sea forces continued to scour the waters of Occidental Mindoro on Monday in search of 14 people who were reported missing following the sinking of their fishing vessel as a result of its collision with a bulk cargo vessel bound for Australia.
Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo said ships and aircraft were being used in the search and rescue operations being carried out within and the surrounding of waters of Tayamaan, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, where the fishing vessel FV Liberty 5 collided with the MV Vienna Wood.
The fishing vessel, with its 12 crewmen and two passenger, was on its way to the Navotas Fishport in Metro Manila when it figured in the freak maritime accident with the Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier ship at around 7:40 a.m. on Sunday, 14.57 nautical miles west-southwest, off Tayamaan.
The Liberty 5, which is based in Palawan, came from Cagayan de Tawi-tawi while the Vienna Wood, which has no cargo, came from Subic, according to Balilo, adding it was the captain of the bulk carrier that reported to the Coast Guard about the collision.
The Australia-bound ship, with 20 crewmen, has been escorted to the port in Batangas by the Coast Guard, which is investigating the collision.
Balilo did not give the identities of the 14 missing, who were the subjects of the ongoing search and rescue operations.
Group calls for massive search
Meanwhile, the militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) urged Philippine authorities to conduct a massive search and rescue operation to bring home safely the 14 Filipino fishermen that went missing at sea.
“We strongly condemn this another collision incident in our territorial waters involving our Filipino fishermen and a Chinese vessel. We call on the authorities to expedite the search and rescue operations for the missing fishing crew and as much as possible, [they] must be returned to their families safe. Moreover, the Chinese cargo ship should be held accountable for endangering the lives of our fisherfolks,” Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said in a news release.
Hicap likened the recent incident to the ramming and sinking of the F/B Gem-Ver1 by a Chinese vessel that endangered the lives of 22 fishermen in Recto Bank last year. He lamented that the 22 fishermen who hail from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, “have yet to be fully compensated by the Chinese vessel that hit and abandoned them last year.”
“This is the very same month last year that a Chinese vessel almost killed 22 Filipino fishermen on a hit-and-run incident in Recto Bank, an underwater reef formation in the West Philippine Sea. One year of no justice and yet another tragic incident happened,” Hicap said.
Hicap said what happened last year must not happen again. “Those responsible, including the owner and the captain of the Chinese cargo vessel should be held accountable for what happened,” Hicap said.
With a report by Jonathan L. Mayuga
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