4 crewmen missing in boat-barge collision

MASBATE CITY — Four crewmen of a fishing boat were reported to be still missing when their vessel collided with a barge off the Masbate island of Jintotolo early Sunday morning, police said.

Senior Superintendent Romeo Mapalo, provincial police director, identified the four as Arnel Diola, Nestor Umangwon, Ildefonso Boltron Jr. and Renator Amparado, all crewmembers of F/B Alaska-1.

The fishing boat collided with M/V Rizza while the barge was being towed by another boat, the M/V Michael Rizza, which was loaded with limestone.

The barge and the second boat are owned by Asian Shipping Corp., while the fishing vessel is operated by one Benjamin Cabahug of Cadiz City.

The boat had just come from Bohol and was en route to La Union when the incident happened, Mapalo said.

"We are still looking for the missing crewmen," he said, adding that a joint team from the Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority is looking into the collision. — Celso Amo