Headless man, rowboat discovered in Tawi-tawi shores

The ill-fated ocean rowing boat that is discovered in the shores of Tawi-tawi. (Courtesy of Western Mindanao Command)

ZAMBOANGA CITY –– Authorities are trying to establish the identity of a headless man discovered in the shores of Tawi-Tawi on April 24.

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command, said the body is believed to be that of a foreigner.

He was recovered lying in a rock on the shore of Kinapusan Island in Barangay Nusa-Nusa of South Ubian town, together with his sea craft.

Sobejana said a resident discovered the body and immediately reported it to the 36th Marine Company stationed in the area.

Colonel Arturo Rojas, commander of Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi, said the man is wearing a blue diving suit, and the sea craft is a white ocean rowing boat about 24 feet long with red and blue stripes.

Rojas added that the boat’s bow has a conspicuous ’88’ mark.

An initial assessment indicated that the body and the rowing boat could have drifted from the Celebes Sea, brought into South Ubian by the sea current, Rojas said.

Because it was already decomposing, the body was immediately buried on the island. The boat was brought to the South Ubian municipal hall, Rojas added.

Sobejana said the 2nd Marine Brigade has coordinated with other law enforcement agencies and nearby local governments to help in identifying the body.

Malaysian and Indonesian authorities were also alerted of the incident, Sobejana added.

Sobejana said one possibility being looked into is that the body could be that of Chinese rower Ruihan Yu, who set out on a solo rowing journey late last year.

Yu’s vessel capsized near the Marshall Islands. Although he was able to call for distress through a satellite phone, communication was lost as his phone ran out of power.

Yu had previously attempted to cross the Pacific from California to Australia in 2017 but had to abandon the quest after his boat suffered a damaged rudder off the coast of Hawaii. He was rescued by the US Coast Guard stationed in Honolulu.

The rowboat recovered in Tawi-Tawi is reportedly the same one posted in the Marshall Islands journal on December 6, 2019.

“We will provide the needed assistance to the family of Mr. Ruihan Yu if they want to go to Tawi-Tawi to check and verify if indeed it is the [body] of Ruihan,” Sobejana said.