The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) retrieved on Wednesday, April 16, the cadaver of a second crew member of a sand carrier vessel that capsized off Rizal, Occidental Mindoro.
MV Hong Hai 16 capsized at approximately 100 meters from the shoreline of Barangay Malawaan around 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday. It had 25 crew members, of which, 13 are Filipinos and 12 are Chinese.
Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, commander of Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog, said the second fatality is a Filipino, whose identity was not immediately revealed pending notice to the immediate family.
“The one that we recently recovered is a Filipino. That brings the total [to] two casualties,” he said.
Earlier, the PCG said the cadaver of a Chinese crew member was found by PCG divers.
Meanwhile, 14 crew members (six Filipinos and eight Chinese) were rescued, leaving nine others (six Filipinos and three Chinese) still unaccounted for.
According to initial investigation, the vessel capsized “under moderate sea conditions.” The vessel was reported to be operated by Keen Peak Corporation, and an investigation was conducted to determine the exact cause of the incident.
Per initial visual assessment of the PCG, the vessel remains upright but partially submerged, with possible trapped personnel in the engine room.
In anticipation of a possible environmental hazard, PCG personnel coordinated with the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO)-Occidental Mindoro for the potential deployment of oil spill containment booms.
Simultaneously, the coast guard station in Sablayan immediately deployed an additional response team to augment the ongoing operations.
“Although it is not marine environmentally hazardous unlike other black products because it contains automotive diesel, we still managed to put oil spill booms around it para ma-contain (to contain it),” Tuvilla noted.
“Our divers since yesterday are doing underwater operations, going around, knocking the hull for possible signs of life. Allegedly, when it sunk, it was already filled up with sand,” he added.
Meanwhile, PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan directed the Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog, to focus on search, rescue, and recovery operations.
“Assume that they are still alive. Do things as fast as we can and maintain the preventive [oil spill] measures,” Gavan said.
Likewise, the PCG has informed the owner of the ship regarding their responsibility to extract the vessel and get an accredited salvor to help in extracting the ship.