CEBU CITY, Philippines. (07 November 2019) –Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel successfully rescued the passengers and crews of a capsized vessel named MV Siargao Princess at vicinity 5 nautical miles South of Sibonga, Cebu around 2:30 PM today.

Initial reports revealed that around 11 AM of the same date, Coast Guard District Central Visayas (CGDCV) received a phone call from an unidentified concerned citizen informing the said incident. CGDCV immediately directed BRP Suluan (MRRV 4406) to proceed at the said vicinity to conduct search and rescue operations (SAR). Coordination was also made with MV Lite Ferry, Philippine National Police Maritime Group with PCG personnel onboard and Sibonga Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office to assist in retrieving people from the water. MV Lite Ferry 22 was also directed to conduct surface search for additional survivors.

Investigation conducted by the PCG to the master of the vessel, Captain Antonio Conag disclosed that, when the vessel turned towards Sibonga going against the sea swell of 1.5 meters in height, the front hatch cover of the vessel was detached due to the pitching of the vessel caused by big swells that resulted to the ingress of water into the vessel. This made the vessel to dip to the front and eventually capsized.

Meanwhile, MRRV 4406 finally arrived at 1.6 nautical miles east of Carcar Point, Cebu and sighted floating persons in groups with life jackets. Coast Guard personnel right away retrieved a total of 59 survivors from the water. On the other hand, as per reports and the Master’s statement, three (3) crews and one (1) passenger successfully made it to the shorelines of Carcar.

After the successful SAR operations, MRRV 4406 departed at said vicinity enroute to Cebu City to disembark all rescued survivors with no reported casualties.

Photo courtesy to BRP Suluan (MRRV 4406)