Hold departure order issued against Hong Kong vessel crew in collision

MANILA, Philippines — A local court stopped all 20 crewmen of a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship from leaving the country pending an investigation into the ship’s collision with a fishing vessel that left 14 mostly Filipino fishermen missing to this day.

Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo said on Wednesday that presiding judge Ulysses Delgado of Branch 44 of the Regional Trial Court in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, granted their petition for a precautionary hold departure order (HDO) against the Chinese crewmen.

Reckless imprudence

Covered by the order were all respondents to the case, including ship captain Zhang Wei Wei, chief officer Yang Xifeng, second officer Yi Lie, third officer Shi Bin and ship officers Fan Qoujin, Xia Zhen and Wang Xingtu.

The crewmen, along with ship owner Nomikos Transworld Maritime, were earlier charged with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and damage to property for the incident.

In late June, the Australia-bound Vienna Wood collided with the Navotas-bound boat, which carried 12 fishermen and two passengers off Barangay Tayamaan in Mamburao.

While Vienna Wood had enough service and lifeboats on deck, its crew did not move to rescue the Filipino crew and instead relied on seven other vessels in the area to respond.