Cargo vessel catches fire, sinks; 12 saved, 3 missing

LEGAZPI CITY — Twelve crewmen were rescued and three others remained missing after a cargo ship loaded with coconut oil caught fire and sank off Sorsogon yesterday morning.

Lt. Armand Balilo, Coast Guard spokesman, said in Manila that the captain, Rodolfo Lopez, and 11 other crewmen of MV Isabela Angelica were rescued by three ships.

Balilo said rescue teams were still searching for the missing crewmen.

Crisolito Agustin, Bicol commander of the Coast Guard, said five of the survivors — identified as Marlon Galemba, Allan Servano, Jaime Benares, Richard Fabrigas and Jesus Esmeralde — were rescued by MV Princess Bicolandia in the San Bernardino Strait off Matnog town.

The five crewmen, Agustin said, were carried by strong currents for a distance of about 13 nautical miles.

"We are still conducting search and rescue operations for the missing crewmembers," he said. "There was no report of an oil spill."

Arnel Capili, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said MT Isabela Angelica, owned by VRC Shipping Corp., was carrying 1,450 metric tons of coconut oil, and left this city at about 6 p.m. Monday en route to Batangas City.

Capili said the vessel, weighing 498.29 gross tons, was sailing in Layog Point, some 3.5 kilometers from Barcelona, when it caught fire and sank at about 5:30 a.m. yesterday.

He said another vessel, MV Legazpi, was in the vicinity but its crewmembers failed to immediately come to the rescue due to inclement weather.

Assisting in the search and rescue operation was MT Andreana Angelica, also owned by VRC Shipping Corp., he said.

Agustin said the Coast Guard central office in Manila was sending a helicopter to help in the rescue mission, which was being supervised by Lt. Nelson Torrea, the Coast Guard’s Sorsogon commander.

Maritime disasters are common in the country due to poor safety standards and the need to travel between the archipelago’s thousands of islands.

The worst peacetime shipping disaster occurred in Philippine waters in 1987 when more than 4,300 people died in a collision between the ferry Doña Paz and an oil tanker. — With Jose Aravilla, Rainier Allan Ronda and wire reports