Fisherman injured as tanker rams fishing boat on Manila Bay

MANILA, Philippines—A fisherman was injured when an oil tanker rammed a wooden-hulled fishing boat off Sangley Point in Cavite City Tuesday morning.

An initial report reaching the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters in Manila did not identify the injured fisherman, said to be one of 21 crew members of the MB Lala Boom-B.

The report said the fishing boat was nearly wrecked due to the impact of the collision with the steel-hulled MT Pulilan, operated by Herma Shipping and Transport, Inc.

The 891-ton oil tanker, manned by 14 crew members and loaded with jet fuel, was on its way to the Pasig River when it smashed into the fishing boat boat at around 5 a.m.

The MB Lala Boom-B had left the Navotas area about an hour earlier to fish in Manila Bay.

Coast Guard records showed that a similar incident happened in the same area on April 1, 2011, when a collision between the fishing boat Lady Aleah and the oil tanker MT Hagonoy left two fishermen dead and another missing.

On board the Lady Aleah, which also came from Navotas, were 71 fishermen and crew members, according to Coast Guard files.