PCG has yet to name ship that rammed boat

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard has yet to identify the Manila-bound cargo vessel that reportedly collided with the Navotas-based fishing boat Dan Israel-G on Wednesday night three nautical miles off Ternate, Cavite, leaving four fishermen dead and three others missing.

Commander Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson on Sunday disclosed that the command’s inquiry into the “hit-and-sail” case was still in its preliminary stage.

“A marine protest has already been filed by (businessman Danny Ang of Barangay (village) San Jose, Navotas), the owner of the ill-fated fishing boat. We also have teams getting the statements of the fishermen who survived the collision. For its part, the Coast Guard station in Manila is coordinating with the shipping companies that operate the cargo ships that were recorded to have passed by the collision area (around 11 p.m. Wednesday),” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Balilo, also chief of the PCG’s public affairs office, did not name the subject cargo vessels.

But Coast Guard insiders quoted the Philippine Ports Authority’s Vessel Traffic Monitoring System as having identified two vessels – the 5,707-ton MV Virginia Kalikasan and the 1,504-ton MV Ocean Hope – as the only cargo ships that passed by the area when the collision took place at around 11 p.m.

Viriginia Kalikasan and Ocean Hope, now docked at the Port of Manila, are owned and operated by the shipping firms Fortune Logistics, Inc. and Oceanic Container Lines, respectively.

Balilo also reported that the search for the missing fishermen in the waters off Cavite and Bataan, has been going on, as of Sunday, and would continue.

“The Coast Guard search-and-rescue vessels BRP San Juan and BRP Nueva Vizcaya are still operating in these areas. We also deployed 14 divers on rubber and aluminum boats to scour the collision site and nearby areas for survivors,” he also said.

PCG personnel and Cavite fishermen have recovered the bodies of four crew members of the fishing boat — Jojo Cumbilla, Vincent dela Cruz, Romnick Rosales and Ruben Ursal.

The Coast Guard expressed fear that the three missing fishermen might have been trapped in the sunken vessel.

The 12.6-ton Dan Israel-G was reportedly carrying 23 fishermen when it was hit by the still unknown cargo ship. The fishing boat had come from Navotas port and was on its way to the West Philippine Sea when it encountered engine trouble, prompting its crew to drop anchor and repair the engine.

“It was during this time when they were reportedly hit by a still unidentified cargo ship,” according to Balilo.

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