TIM eMagazine Volume 1 Issue 11 | Page 16

Maritime

Two Cargo Ships Sink Off Philippine In Separate Incidents , Six Still Missing

A t least one person has been died and six others are missing after two cargo vessels sank off the Philippines in separate incidents this week , Philippine Coast Guard ( PCG ) has said .

In the first accident , cargo vessel M / V Virgina 1 with eleven crew members on board sank in the waters southwest of Caballo Island after catching fire on Tuesday . According to PCG , one of the crew members died and five survived the accident , while other six are still missing .
Report said that the fire was first noticed in a cabin adjacent to the smoke stack of the vessel and later reached to the main deck and mid-ship despite the efforts of crew members to combat the fire .
The crew abandoned the ship after and the six people boarded a life raft while others boarded a lifeboat . However , unfortunately , the lifeboat capsized after sometime due to bad weather and one died because of severe exhaustion .
PCG said the survivors were able to cling to the overturned boat and were rescued by fisherman in waters between La Monja and Fortune Island . One of the crew , a Quarter Master , was also rescued by a fisherman at Bogiw Island .
Officials later said search was on-going for other crew mem-

16