Coast Guard rescues passengers of boat stranded for 10 hours off Batangas

CITY OF CALAPAN, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard rescued 14 passengers and 12 crew members of a vessel on Sunday evening after it was stranded for 10 hours off Batangas due to engine trouble, a Coast Guard official said.

Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente, PCG spokesperson, said the MV San Carlo Uno conked out 7 nautical miles southwest of Fortune Island at 9:40 a.m. after departing from Tilik in Lubang Island, Occidental Mindoro at around 8:05 a.m.

Fortune Island, a privately-owned island-resort, is about 8.7 miles off the coast of Nasugbu, Batangas.

He said Captain Danilo Jara of the troubled boat was able to send a distress call to the PCG detachment in Tilik  over two hours later, at around 12:50 p.m.

The Tilik detachment then relayed the information to the PCG detachment in Nasugbu, Batangas and Coast Guard Station in Bataan, which in turn alerted the Coast Guard Action Center.

Ricafrente said a PCG vessel, BRP Nueva Vizcaya, was deployed from Manila and reached the troubled boat at 8 p.m. and brought 13 passengers to the PCG headquarters in Manila for medical checkup. The 14th passenger opted to stay on board, along with the crew of the troubled vessel, which was towed to Manila by another ship hired by the boat owner, he said.