Fourteen fishermen were rescued by ship tanker Mount Akaboshi off the coast of Pangasinan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in the northwestern Luzon province confirmed Sunday, October 4.
Rescuing ship Mount Akaboshi is a general cargo ship registered in Panama, according to vessel tracker website MarineTraffic.com.
The 14 fishermen were transferred to PCG vessel MCS 3001, skippered by Captain Allen Toribio, as of 9:20 pm Sunday. The PCG vessel has yet to reach the shoreline.
“They now have the 14 rescued fishermen onboard and now proceeding to rendesvouz point, 10 nautical miles north of Bolinao to meet with MV Energy Atlantic to fetch another group of 14 rescued fishermen,” the PCG confirmed.
PCG’s MCS 3001 is expected to arrive at the position at 11 pm Sunday.
A photo of the rescue from an eyewitness showed men waving from a wooden boat partly painted blue. Another photo showed some of them holding on to a flotation device.
The PCG has yet to confirm details of the incident, including what initially happened to the fishermen, the time and circumstances that led to the rescue. A full PCG report will be issued soon.
As of 9pm, the PCG in Bolinao said a total of 30 fishermen were rescued on Sunday alone.