PH Coast Guard detains vessel with 7 Chinese crew in Zambales town

INQUIRER FILES

SUBIC, Zambales — A merchant vessel (MV) manned by seven Chinese crew members was detained on Thursday, May 17, by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in San Felipe town in this province.

Citing initial reports, CDR Euphraim Jayson Diciano, commander of the PCG sub-station in Zambales, said MV Hyperlink 988, which is registered in Freetown, Sierra Leone, was being held in the vicinity waters off Barangay Sindol after the local PCG sub-station conducted an inspection on board the vessel and found 21 deficiencies.

During the inspection, PCG personnel found that the vessel had no hard copies of necessary permits and other documents, including the crew list.

According to the ship captain, the vessel’s intended destination was the Manila anchorage.

“However, due to high anchorage fees, they chose the more affordable anchorage,” the local PCG sub-station said.

But San Felipe town has no ports, so the vessel did not pay any anchorage fees, the Inquirer learned.

On May 15, the PCG sub-station received a notification that an unidentified vessel hoisting the Philippine flag was seen in the town.

Upon verification using an online marine application, they found that the vessel’s AIS (automatic identification system) was turned off, making it impossible to retrieve its information.

PCG personnel also attempted to communicate with the vessel’s crew via radio but received no response. INQ