11 people, stranded at sea for 9 hours, rescued off

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Eleven people, four of them children, were rescued from a Hong Kong-registered yacht that was stranded for nine hours at sea near Zambales province during the weekend, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) confirmed on Tuesday (Nov. 6).

The tugboat MT Stanford towed the luxury sports yacht MY Fusion towards a port in Cabangan town at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday (Nov. 4), the belated report says.

The SBMA did not identify the distressed passengers, who complained only of seasickness.

The Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. dispatched the tugboat at the request of SBMA.

MY Fusion was returning to the Subic Bay Yacht Club from Magalawa Island on Saturday (Nov. 3) when the yacht’s engines stalled at 6 p.m. reportedly due to a leaking fuel tank.

Relatives and friends of the passengers alerted the Philippine Coast Guard, which was able to communicate with the passengers at 9:40 p.m.

The Coast Guard sent out its Multi-Role Response Vessel 4406 to take them back to Subic, 90 kilometers south of Cabangan.