Five Japanese crew members of a fishing vessel were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) after they encountered a maritime accident off Calapan, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday morning, March 11.

Rear Adm. Armando Balilo, PCG spokesperson, said MV Catriona encountered vessel listing at approximately 2.6 nautical miles northeast of Silonay Island in Calapan around 6:30 a.m. 

Listing occurs when a vessel tilts to one side after taking in water.

The PCG identified the rescued crew as Osamu Kawakami, 74; Itsuo Tamura, 86; Hata Isamu, 74; Hiromu Nishida, 83; and Hamagato Tsukasa, 80.

“According to the Japanese crew members, they departed Japan en route to Davao. While underway, MV Catriona was accidentally damaged, causing the vessel to list,” Balilo said in a statement. 

Balilo said the vessel had a hole in it which caused water to seep in.

A transiting vessel sighted the tilted MV Catriona and reported its condition to the PCG.

After receiving the report, the PCG Command Center coordinated with the Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog and Coast Guard Station Oriental Mindoro to conduct a search and rescue (SAR) operation.

The PCG deployed BRP Habagat (TB-271) until the SAR personnel located the vessel and the crew.

The PCG SAR team confirmed that the five Japanese crew members were in good physical condition. They were brought to Port of Calapan for further assessment.