MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard is considering the possibility that the 14 missing crew members and passengers of FV Liberty 5 might have been trapped under the capsized boat.
On the fourth day of search and rescue operations, no body has been found yet in the vicinity of the collision between Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel MV Vienna Wood and Philippine fishing boat FV Liberty 5.
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Commodore Armand Balilo, spokesperson of the PCG, said the instruction of PCG commandant Vice Admiral George Ursabia Jr. was to continue the search operations.
"Meron din teorya na baka napunta doon sa ilalim dahil nasama sila doon sa paglubog ng fishing vessel," Balilo said in an interview with radio dzRH Thursday.
(There is a theory that the missing fishermen might have been trapped under the boat when the fishing vessel sank.)
Asked if the coast guard has the capacity to go all the way down to the sea floor to search for the missing Filipinos, Balilo said the depth of the vicinity waters is approximately 2,000 meters while technical divers may only reach up to 100 meters.
The PCG spokesperson said they might ask for assistance from other countries in recovering the fishing boat.
"Magtatanong din kami sa mga eksperto, magtatanong din kami sa mga ibang bansang kalapit natin kung paano gawan ng paraan ito... kung meron makinarya o technological equipment na pwede mahiram," Balilo said.
(We will ask experts, we will also ask neighboring countries on how to do this... maybe they have advanced technological equipment that we can borrow.)
As of Thursday, coast guard patrol boats BRP Boracay and BRP Malapascua and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources' patrol vessel MCS 3009 are still conducting search and rescue operations in the vicinity waters off the coast of Occidental Mindoro.
The PCG has also contacted the families of the missing fishermen to provide necessary assistance.
Initial investigation showed that poor visibility and unfavorable sea conditions caused the collision Saturday night.
The coast guard, however, earlier said they are also considering other factors such as the competence of the crew of the Chinese vessel.
Investigation also found that the Chinese vessel did not deploy any small boat to assist the Philippine boat upon collision. The coast guard's command center in Manila received the distress call from the Chinese vessel at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, about three hours after the maritime incident.