Filipino fishing boat (FFB) "Dearyn", which was rammed by a foreign vessel near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough or Panatag Shoal), will likely be salvaged and towed anytime this week, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Monday, Oct. 9.
PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said Harbor Star, the company tasked to lead the salvage and towing operations, is expected to leave on Monday night to start the mission to retrieve the capsized boat.
"[It] would take around two days of travle time to reach the location of FFB Dearyn," Balilo said.
Once retrieved, Balilo noted that it would take another two to three days for the Harbor Star to bring the boat back to the shore.
On Monday, PCG vessel BRP Malapascua located FFB Dearyn at 180 nautical miles off Agno, Pangasinan where the ramming incident occurred last week.
Citing a report from the PCG, Balilo said that FFB Dearyn was in "bad condition" and "would require to be lifted onboard a salvor ship" to prevent further damaging the boat.
Balilo said FFB Dearyn will be inspected and used in the ongoing investigation of MT Pacific Anna, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker, which is the suspected vessel that rammed the boat.
"From its initial position of being capsized on its left side, with its two outriggers already detached and its plywood-made bow already missing, the fishing boat was reported to be floating," Balilo shared.
FFB Dearyn was rammed by a commercial vessel on the wee hours of Oct. 2, leaving three Filipino fishermen dead.
The PCG had said it monitored MT Anna Pacific as the only vessel that passed by FFB Dearyn on the time and date of the collission.
The tanker came from Incheon, South Korea and arrived in Singapore on Oct. 5.
The PCG sent personnel in Singapore to coordinate the possible inspection and investigation of MT Pacific Anna.