CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines — Seventeen crew members of a Vietnamese-flagged cargo vessel were rescued when their ship ran aground off Balabac, Palawan yesterday morning.
Rescue teams from the Balabac police and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) found the MV VIET HAI STAR half-submerged in the waters off Barangay Poblacion 4, according to Lt. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento, Area Police Command-Southern Luzon commander.
Armamento said initial investigation showed the vessel encountered engine problem.
The vessel, which was carrying 4,000 tons of rice, departed Ho Chi Minh City and was on its way to Cagayan de Oro when a leakage was discovered at the starboard side of the bow.
In Iloilo, 172 passengers of a fastcraft bound for Iloilo were rescued on Tuesday after the vessel encountered engine trouble.
PCG-Negros Occidental commander Joe Luviz Mercurio said a distress message from Weesam Express 6 was received around 30 minutes after it departed from the BREDCO Port in Bacolod City.
Meanwhile, 16 crewmembers of the M/T King Rich, a Sierra Leone-flagged tanker, which was abandoned off Ilocos Norte, arrived in Subic on Sunday and was provided assistance by the PCG substation in Zambales. – Gilbert Bayoran