SAN PEDRO CITY—The government’s mapping agency traced a large object underwater which authorities said may be the wreck of the MV Starlight Atlantic that sank at the height of Typhoon “Nina” (international name: Nock-ten) in Batangas.
Glenn Tabanao, a representative of the shipping company, said on Tuesday sonar scanning by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority traced the object between 60 and 100 meters down the sea near the Maricaban island in Tingloy, Batangas.
The roll-on-roll-off vessel that carried 33 people on board sank at the height of the typhoon as the ship was trying to reposition due to strong winds and waves.
Fourteen of the crew members were rescued but cabin crew member Lyca Banaynal died. Eighteen other people remained missing.
READ: Search for 8 passengers of sunken vessel halted, 1 dead
In a phone interview, Tabanao said technical divers would comb the area to confirm whether the object found was the shipwreck.
In an earlier interview, Tabanao said it was also possible that the remaining crew members could have been trapped inside the vessel. RAM/rga