2 missing Pinoy sailors found dead

MANILA, Philippines - The bodies of two Filipino seamen – reported missing after their ship sank when it collided with a fishing trawler in the North Sea off the Dutch coast – have been found, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

“The bodies found were identified as those of the two Filipinos,” DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said.

The Philippine embassy in The Hague has informed the families of Dennis Sabang and Edwin Javier, he added.

 â€œRepatriation procedures will now be undertaken,” Hernandez said.

The embassy reported that the M/V Maria was deployed to guard an oil drilling platform about 40 kilometers southwest of the Dutch Navy port of Den Helder. Two of its five crewmembers were rescued, but three – the two Filipinos and an Indonesian – were reported missing.

The shipping lane where the accident happened is one of the busiest in the North Sea and an important passing point for ships sailing into Rotterdam port, Europe’s largest and the fifth largest in the world.