Fishing vessel sinks off Palawan

A Navotas fishing vessel sank after it encountered big waves spawned by strong winds off the waters of Palawan yesterday morning.

According to Leonardo Flores, 43, a cook of the ill-fated Maricris 3 fishing boat, the vessel was battered by big waves at around 4 a.m. The wooden sea craft developed a hole in its engine room and sank in less than 15 minutes.

"Binutas ng malalakas na alon yung lantsa namin (Strong waves made a hole on our boat)," Flores told The STAR in a telephone interview.

The timely arrival of another fishing vessel, Unity, which responded to the distress call of the sinking fishing boat, facilitated the rescue of its 13 crewmen.

"Salamat sa Diyos at dumating agad yung Unity, nakaligtas, kaming lahat (Thank God, we all survived with the timely arrival of Unity)," Flores said.

Maricris 3 sank with more than 100 boxes of fish the fishermen caught during their week-long fishing expedition in the high seas. Flores disclosed that though the boat was rickety, they often ventured into the China Sea.

Inspector Joseph Sapigao, of the Maritime police, attended to the survivors.