A motor tanker caught fire at sea killing one person while a passenger ship encountered engine trouble but all 63 individuals onboard were rescued in separate maritime incidents in Batangas, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
Motor tanker "Sea Horse" went up in flames while at the Batangas Anchorage Area around 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 22.
A report reaching the PCG headquarters in Manila said that the Coast Guard Station (CGS) Batangas received information that Sea Horse was on fire so a search and rescue operation was immediately launched.
Joint personnel from PCG Diesel Fast Boat (DF) 308 and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) conducted fire combat operation onboard the vessel while motor tugboats "Great Lark," "Sedar 7," and "Sedar 8" assisted them.
The fire was declared out at 11:08 a.m., the PCG said.
"There was one recorded fatality, and investigation is still being done to identify the corpse," the PCG said.
The PCG's Marine Environmental Protection Group Batangas coordinated with oil company Petron for a standby oil spill boom in preparation for possible oil spill response.
Assessment and further investigation were conducted by Coast Guard Sub Station Batangas City to determine the cause of fire.
Meanwhile, passenger ship MV Our Lady of Fatima 03 sustained an engine failure while sailing at approximately one nautical mile southwest off Fortune Island in Nasugbu, Batangas on Saturday, Oct. 21.
The PCG said that MV Our Lady of Fatima 03 was transiting in between Ambil Island and Fortune Island when an engine failure was discovered around 9:30 a.m. and an attempt to troubleshoot the engine failed, leaving the ship to be dead on water.
"Accordingly, some parts of the engine particularly the exhaust valve was damaged causing the dislocation of its push rod," the PCG said.
Reports reaching the command center of Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog said the vessel departed Port of Tilik in Lubang.
MV Lubang Express, a sister ship of MV Our Lady of Fatima 03, towed the distressed passenger vessel to Wawa Port in Nasugbu.
All 54 passengers and nine crew onboard were safe as they were subjected to a medical check up, the PCG said.
The vessel has a gross tonnage of 69.41 tons and net tonnage of 16.09 tons. The PCG said it is skippered by Captain Florecel Palacio.