Coast Guard to transport bodies recovered from sunken ferry boat

The bodies of 47 passengers that drowned when a passenger boat capsized in waters off Cagayan province Sunday will be ferried to their hometown by the Philippine Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the bodies from the M/B Maejan would be transported to Calayan town in Cagayan so their families could give them a proper wake and burial.

The search for the six missing persons is still going on, he added.

Meanwhile, Tamayo said the Special Board of Marine Inquiry is set to convene this afternoon to hear the testimony of witnesses in the Maejan case.

“But since the ship’s captain Dami Tan and the ship owner still have to go back to Calayan Island to get their supporting documents, which they need to present when they face the SBMI, they would be called to appear before the board at a later date,” he said.

In Cagayan, amid the cold weather and rough seas, one more body was recovered during retrieval operations for the six missing passengers of the Maejan.

Senior Inspector Alex de los Santos, police chief of Ballesteros, Cagayan, said the death toll from the Maejan has risen to 47 after the recovery of the unidentified male body off northwestern Claveria town.

“Retrieval operations are still ongoing for the remaining six missing passengers (of the capsized banca),” he said in a text message to The STAR.

The latest body recovered was already taken to a Ballesteros funeral parlor for identification, police said.

The Maejan , which was also carrying farm animals, left the island town of Calayan, Cagayan in the morning of Sunday.

It was expected to dock at Aparri port around 3 p.m. the same day when it was overwhelmed by rough seas off the convergent point of the Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and Cagayan River.

As of yesterday, the Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, police and local government units stretched their search area from the Aparri Coast to the Cagayan-Ilocos boundary in Santa Praxedes town.

Seven rescued off Palawan

Three Spanish divers and their four Filipino guides were rescued after their boat floated aimlessly at sea for 31 hours, traveling a distance of 45 nautical miles from Boracay to Palawan.

The Coast Guard said the motorized banca carrying the seven went adrift near Boracay island and were finally rescued in Palawan early yesterday afternoon.

Commander Vanni Bergantin, Coast Guard District chief of staff in Palawan, said the seven passengers and crewmen of the M/B Maruja were Spanish nationals Jaime Blanche, Carlos Blanche, and Tito Solan and their Filipino guides Bernardo Sedantes, Butch Sedantes, Boy Sedantes, and Ricaldo Galgo.

The Maruja reportedly experienced engine trouble when it was traveling back to Boracay island from Caluya island.

The vessel reportedly floated aimlessly until 7:30 a.m. yesterday when it was sighted off the province of Palawan.

Bergantin said the Coast Guard was able to keep track of their location because they continuously received text messages from Blanche.   – With Charlie Lagasca