MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday identified the two Filipino seafarers who died in the sinking of a cargo vessel off Vietnam.
DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said that the bodies of Captain Ronel Acueza Andrin and Third Officer Jerome Maquilang Dinoy were brought to southern the province of Ba Ria Vung Tau on Sunday.
Andrin, 35, hailed from Quezon province while Dinoy, 23, came from Cebu.
Their ship, the Bahamas-flagged carrier Bulk Jupiter, sank with 19 Filipino crew members on Friday en route from Malaysia to China.
The ship's chief cook, Angelito Capindo Rojas, is the only known survivor.
Jose said Vietnamese rescuers aided by commercial ships passing through the area continued to search for the 16 others, identified by Vietnamese state media Tuoi Tres News as:
- Renner Carl Resos Abugadie
- Gibbson Ladica Ranara
- Alexis Thomas Piala Bacalla
- Joseph Bantolino Damasen
- Lot Olavides Correos
- Reydante Santos Mendoza
- Ricky Arangorin Gapasin
- Jonniefer Derapite Aleta
- Renator Flores Toribio
- Wynfred Penaranda Balazo
- Edgar Tabanao Melecio
- George Barbaso Espliguera Jr.
- Edwin Deriada Acebo
- Rosilo Navarro Sansolis
- Gilbert Feliciano Flora
- Mark Timothy Denosta Causarin
Rojas told officials that he had no idea what happened with the ship.
"I don't understand why the ship had the accident and sank," Rojas was quoted as saying "I just knew that the ship, which was on its way, suddenly tilted. I just had time to put on life vest and jump into the sea."
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, said that the Philippine military is being asked to extend assistance in the search operation, which yielded no new survivors as of Monday.
"Ang latest update from the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi is that there are no new remains recovered or survivors rescued aside from the earlier two bodies recovered, which are now in Ho Chi Minh City, and the one survivor who was rescued," Lacierda said in a televised press briefing on Monday.
Three helicopters, meanwhile, were added by the Vietnamese Navy to the search efforts while calling on neighboring countries to offer help, he said.
Thanh Nien quoted Nguyen Anh Vu, general director of Vietnam's maritime search and rescue operations coordination center, as saying the search operation was hampered by bad weather.
The ship owner, Bergen-based Gearbulk, said the vessel was 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers) off Vietnam with a cargo of bauxite when it sent a distress signal that was picked up by the Japanese coast guard.
The 190-meter (623-foot) long, 56,000-ton ship sank off the coast of Vung Tau, which is 96 kilometers (59 miles) from the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.
Vessels from Liberia, Oman, Singapore and China were helping in the search, the DFA said. - with Minh V. Tran, the Associated Press