Hero captain kept fishers close at sea

DAGUPAN CITY—Two rafts made from salvaged wooden planks, fishing nets, life vests, rain, lots of prayers and their determination to stay close together, no matter what.

These were what helped the 24 fishermen on the F/V 3MS Wolf, a 45-ton tuna vessel, survive a 19-hour ordeal adrift in the West Philippine Sea as Tropical Depression “Dodong” crossed the country’s western coastline last week.

The fishermen, led by vessel captain Dominiano Sentino, arrived at Picocobuan Port in Bolinao, Pangasinan, at 8:30 p.m Friday, eight hours after they were rescued by a passing Thai cargo ship.

They were reported missing on Thursday afternoon after their fishing vessel failed to return to Bolinao.

The fishermen, of Masinloc, Zambales, were tired and sleepy from the long journey. Some were too weak and were taken to a hospital in Bolinao.

Sentino, 49, said their nightmare began at around 3 p.m. Thursday, just after they ate their lunch and were on the way back to Bolinao after four days of fishing.

Caught in middle of storm

He said they received a weather bulletin that Dodong had gathered strength and storm signal no. 1 had been declared over Pangasinan.

As their vessel was some 30 nautical miles from Bolinao, the motor that pumped water out of the boat broke down. Soon the boat, which was being battered by huge waves, was filled with water.

“The boat started sinking fast. In 30 minutes, it was gone,” Sentino told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone on Friday night.

It was chaos on the vessel those 30 minutes. Sentino said they grabbed life vests and anything that they thought could keep them afloat. They also took along bottles of water and some leftovers.

Then they leapt from the sinking ship into the cold turbulent water. “Nag-unahan sa pagtalon dala ang gamit (We raced each other to jump off the ship with our things),” Sentino said.

‘Stay together and not give up’

While in the swirling water, Sentino kept his wits about him and strained to be heard as he ordered the crew to stay together and not give up until rescue came.

“We tied the two rafts using our fishing nets, then we tied our bodies to the rafts,” he said.

The rafts, which had Styrofoam underneath, were tossed about by the strong winds and waves, until they were carried some 60 nautical miles from where their boat had sunk, said Chief Inspector Noriel Rombaoa, Bolinao police chief.

“The rafts had drifted and were already in the sea off Ilocos Sur,” Rombaoa added.

Sentino said he tried to put up a brave front when many of his men showed signs of fear. “We did not know if we would survive. We were afraid. I told my men to be strong and not be afraid. But I was afraid myself.”

He said they used up all their drinking water and food by Thursday night. They then turned to drinking rain water.

On Friday morning, they were hopeful help would soon come their way. It was around noon that the MV Sea Palace, a Thai vessel, passed by and picked them up.

Good words for ‘cap’

Philippine Navy officers, who conducted an air search, saw the fishermen being plucked from the water by the Thai vessel, Rombaoa said.

Rodrigo Bautista, operations manager of the F/V 3MS Wolf, had only good words for Sentino.

“He was able to keep the crew together. He kept their spirits up during the long hours that they were lost at sea,” Bautista said.

He said when a Philippine Coast Guard helicopter landed on the Thai vessel, the PCG personnel wanted to bring Sentino back to shore.

But Bautista said Sentino refused and told the PCG officers: “If we die, we will die together.”