US ship rescues 3 fishermen adrift for 5 days

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Three fishermen who miraculously survived in rough seas for five days after their boat capsized off the coast of Pangasinan were rescued Monday night by a passing US Navy ship.

This developed as 31 other fishermen were also rescued by other rescue teams last Monday. Sixty others remained missing from the group of the three fishermen who were rescued earlier by the US Navy.

The fishermen left Infanta, Pangasinan, last Dec. 14 bound for the rich fishing grounds near Scarborough Shoal.

The USNS Rappanhanock was cruising at the South China Sea on its way to the Port of Singapore when the crew spotted the three fishermen who were identified as Johnny Galvez, 23, Renato Ignacio, 31, and Leopoldo Molino, 23, all residents of Barangay Cato in Infanta.

The US Navy crew found the fishermen holding on to the wreck of their fishing boat that was overturned by strong waves.

The search and rescue squad of Rappanhanock, a US naval sealift command ship, was dispatched to rescue the fishermen who were waving at the crew to help them.

The fishermen were later turned over to authorities in the former American naval base at the Subic Freeport.

US Navy Rescue Officer Jeremy Guida said the fishermen used a flashlight to signal for help when they spotted the navy ship passing by.

"It’s like a miracle. They were all lucky to survive for several days the tragic sea accident," Guida said.

Ship chief mate Bill Riley immediately dispatched a rescue team and was able to bring the fishermen aboard the US naval ship and the medical personnel conducted first aid treatment on the weak fishermen.

"They were freezing and very weak at the time when we rescued them," rescuer Craig Johnson told reporters here.

Global Ship Management operations manager Anly Rodriguez said that they received a radio message from the Rappanhanock about the incident.

Rodriguez immediately informed the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, which sent its own emergency team to the Alava Pier in Subic, where the fishermen were brought by the American rescuers.

"We thought it was our time to die," a teary-eyed Galvez told SBMA medical personnel.

Galvez recalled: "We just didn’t lose hope and prayed hard during our seven-day ordeal."

The other fishermen were rescued in separate groups by rescue teams deployed by the Philippine Navy and Air Force, after Infanta Mayor Ruperto Martinez received the report about the missing fishermen, mostly from Barangay Cato, Infanta.