9 fishers adrift at sea for 4 days rescued

A Vietnamese fishing boat rescued nine Filipino fishermen who spent four days adrift in the South China Sea, officials said yesterday.

The men were spotted clinging to an improvised raft 130 nautical miles west of Subic, Zambales on Wednesday, said Commander Joseph Coyme, Coast Guard spokesman.

The fishermen’s motorboat capsized on Jan. 27 after big waves and strong winds snapped the craft’s outrigger, a Coast Guard report said.

In the next three days, several foreign vessels passed but did not stop to rescue the drifting men, the report said. On the fourth day, crewmen of the Vietnamese fishing boat plucked them from the sea.

A Coast Guard vessel was sent to the area to pick up the fishermen, who were treated by a doctor on board and then brought to the Coast Guard headquarters in Manila yesterday, officials said.

The report said the fishermen left Limay, Bataan on Jan. 25 for the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by China and the Philippines. — Edu Punay, Raffy Viray, AP