Pinoy seaman killed, 15 crewmen missing in Baltic Sea mishap

A Filipino seaman was killed and 15 others were reported missing after a large freighter with as many as 29 crewmen capsized near the western Norwegian port of Bergen, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said the Filipino and another fatality have not yet been identified.

There were 24 Filipinos aboard the 166-meter MS Rocknes, she added.

Eight other Filipino crewmen have been rescued from waters of the North Sea, said the Department of Foreign Affairs.

They are third engineers Mariano Soloren and Charlie Gallano, second engineer Ruben Gonzales, electrician Hubert Manginsay and Arnel Florendo, Barlito Madrid Sr., Godofredo Grecia and Antonio Omlang Jr.

The first five Filipinos were among the 12 crewmen who were rescued as the Rocknes was slowly sinking into the sea.

Families of the Filipino crewmen had been informed of the wreck, and a center was being set up to help them, said Jebsens Maritime Inc., the manning agency in Manila.

Some of the crewmen were trapped inside the ship’s overturned hull and others were tossed into the icy waters of the North Sea.

In Norway, Anders Bang-Andersen, spokesman for the Rescue Coordination Center, said nine had been pulled from the ship or the icy water, and that as many as 18 were missing.

The nine crew rescued were taken to area hospitals, he added.

Bang-Andersen said rescue ships and small boats were able to respond quickly because a nearby Norwegian naval base has ample rescue equipment.

"There are many people there with great competence," he said.

The MS Rocknes had sent out a distress call before it capsized Monday about 200 meters off the western island of Bjoroey, he added.

After hours of effort, rescuers managed to cut a hole in the ship and pull out three crew members who had been heard pounding the inside of the ship’s hull.

"All of them were conscious, and talking," said Trygve Hillestad, a police spokesman at the scene. They were taken out seven hours after the ship flipped over, he added.

Cecelia Wathne, also of the rescue center, said the crew included 23 Filipinos, three citizens of the Netherlands, two Norwegians and one German.

A breakdown of the identities and nationalities of those dead, rescued and still missing wasn’t available, she added.

Atle Jebsen, of the Bergen-based ship’s owner Jebsen Management, said the freighter was a bulk carrier that had been loaded with stone bound for Germany.

Bang-Andersen said there had been no other signs of life emanating from the hull, which was enveloped in the subfreezing temperatures and darkness of the northern winter.

Rescuers welded the first hole shut to prevent water from entering, but new holes would be cut if rescuers heard evidence of life inside the wreckage, he added.

Considered to be one of the most modern ships operated by Jebsen, the MS Rocknes underwent checks by the Norwegian maritime authorities last summer and was found to be safe.

The MS Rocknes capsized in a narrow inlet between the island of Bjoroey and Norway’s western coast, less than 200 meters from land just after it put out a distress call.

Bjoroey is about 320 kilometers west of the capital, Oslo. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. — Mayen Jaymalin, Marvin Sy, AFP