Motor boat sinks where Baleno went down off Batangas; all rescued

BATANGAS CITY, Philippines - Barely a week after the tragic sinking of M/V Baleno 9 off Isla Verde in Batangas, a motorized banca sank yesterday in the same spot and nearly killing four people, the Coast Guard said.

A South Korean cargo vessel also ran adrift after being hit by big waves off the coast of Claveria town in Cagayan on Friday, but all 22 crewmen survived the ordeal.

Batangas Coast Guard commander Lt. Commander Troy Cornelio said the four passengers of the wooden boat were rescued by a passenger ferry after drifting for over an hour in the open sea.

Cornelio identified the survivors as Aaron Feranco, John Sheriff Feranco, Aiko Feranco and Jordan Tiamsim, all residents of Isla Verde.

Aaron said they left Isla Verde for Batangas City when their motorized banca was hit by big waves just after reaching Matuko point of the island Friday noon.

Aaron said they were able to cling to a bamboo pole and drifted for over an hour before they were rescued by a passing SuperCat passenger ferry.

The Coast Guard said the four were rescued at the same spot where Baleno 9 had sank, leaving six dead and more than 50 people still missing.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Commander Arman Balilo said plans are underway to tow the South Korean cargo ship Nam Yang 8 after it developed engine trouble and ran adrift.

All the 22 crewmen were forced to abandon ship when it listed 46 degrees to portside.

The ship was laden with 2,800 tons of magnetite on its way to China when it developed engine trouble and began to tilt on its left side while being pummeled by big waves off the coast of Claveria.

The ship’s captain, Jon Ki-Ung, told local officials the vessel listed to its left because of unbalanced cargo.

“This is the reason why its captain and 21 crewmembers already abandoned the ship,” Balilo explained.

All crewmembers were in good health, except for one who was injured by the ship’s propeller, Balilo said.

As this developed, Coast Guard National Capital Region commander Commodore Luis Tuason announced that retrieval operations on the wooden-hulled Catalyn B would start next week.

Tuason said the retrieval of the bodies still trapped would start as soon as the divers secure their gear for their mission.

Catalyn B collided with a fishing vessel and sank in Manila Bay on Christmas Eve, leaving four dead and 23 still missing, according to its manifest.

“We want to retrieve the bodies as soon as possible. We would be pushing for the retrieval of the bodies by next week,” he said. – Evelyn Macairan, Charlie Lagasca, Jaime Laude