A Chinese fishing vessel carrying Filipino crew members reportedly capsized near Maldives before dawn on Tuesday, May 16. 

(Philippine Coast Guard)

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it was closely following the developments on the incident involving fishing vessel Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028. 

According to state-run China Central Television (CCTV), the vessel was spotted capsized in the Indian Ocean south of Maldives around 3 a.m. Beijing time, or same time in the Philippines.

Reports said that the vessel had 39 crew members including five Filipinos, 17 Chinese, and 17 Indonesians. Their identities have yet to be known.

“The PCG Command Center is monitoring the incident and coordinating with the PCG SAR [search and rescue] teams near the last known location of the said Chinese fishing vessel for possible assistance,” PCG communications officer Joy Dianne Gumatay said on Wednesday, May 17.

It was not clear why the fishing vessel capsized but the PCG has already coordinated with the Chinese Embassy to get the full details of the maritime incident.

The PCG said that it has deployed four vessels and three aircraft for SAR operation.

"The target are two liferaft allegedly carrying the crew," PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said.

However, Balilo noted that rough sea condition was posing hazard to the PCG's SAR operation.

(Updated Story)