Coast Guard ends search for sunken Viet ship's crew

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – The Coast Guard has terminated its search for the 22 missing crewmembers of a Vietnamese cargo ship that sank off the northern Cagayan coast, after its efforts have yielded negative results.

“We now presume that all of the missing Vietnamese sailors are dead, especially after their lone survivor described how the ship suddenly went underwater,” said Capt. George Ursabia, Coast Guard-Northern Luzon district commander.

The ship, M/V Vina Lines Queen, sent out a distress signal received by Coast Guard authorities last Dec. 25, after it started to list while on its way to China. The distress call was monitored 200 nautical miles northeast of Aparri, Cagayan.

The ship, owned by the Vietnam National Shipping Lines, was loaded with 54,000 tons of nickel ore from Indonesia.

Ursabia quoted the lone survivor, Dau Ngoc Hung, who was rescued by a Singapore-flagged vessel, as saying that the ship developed mechanical problem and suddenly started to sink while traversing the Babuyan Channel.

The Babuyan Channel is an extremely rough waterway where the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea (or West Philippine Sea) meet.

“He (told his rescuers) that the accident happened so suddenly that he was the only one who was able to reach the lifeboat. Another crewmember should have been with him but failed to step on the lifeboat before the ship sank,” Ursabia said.

“Although we have terminated the search, we have come out with an advisory to all vessels passing the area to be on the lookout for any wreckage,” he added.