Boat accidents

The Philippine Coast Guard reports that a Filipino fishing boat collided with an unidentified commercial vessel near Bajo de Masinloc. The PCG has responded to the distress call.

The incident occurred at around 4:20 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2023, while the fishing boat, FFB DEARYN, was anchored for fishing, about 85 nautical miles northwest of Bajo de Masinloc.

The collision caused the mother boat to sink, resulting in the loss of three lives, including the boat's captain.

PTV reports that the Philippine Coast Guard expresses worry over a potential oil spill after a fishing boat capsized in Calatagan, Batangas on Sunday.

The fishing boat was sailing from Navotas Port headed to Palawan before the incident.

PCG has already alerted the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, the barangay and tourism officials in the area in case of the potential oil spill.

The Philippine Coast Guard reports that it has launched search and rescue operations for passengers of a boat that sank in waters of Polillo, Quezon.

Initial reports say that there are around 70 people on board the boat. 

Sen. Grace Poe files a resolution to investigate the capsizing of MB Aya Express off the waters of Binangonan, Rizal. The boat accident left 27 dead.

According to Poe, Senate Resolution No. 704 seeks to determine accountability for the July 27 tragedy and to find out whether maritime regulations have been followed.

"Those responsible for the death of the 27 individuals and the trauma of the 43 rescued victims should be held accountable for this incident," Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, said in her resolution.

"This tragedy revealed serious maritime safety compliance lapses that need to be revisited to determine whether the regulations are insufficient to provide and ensure safe voyage of individuals at sea or whether there is simply complacency in the implementation," she added.

Local officials say 20 bodies have been recovered from a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a ferry blaze.

The boat, which was transporting dozens of passengers as well as goods, caught fire overnight Monday in Tshimbinda, a village near Tshikapa, the capital of the central province of Kasai.

A report by a naval force in charge of waterway security in the DRC says a member of the crew lit a cigarette just as his comrades were filling up the boat with fuel. — AFP

Seven members of the Boracay Dragon Boat Team died Wednesday morning when their boat capsized off Boracay, the Philippine Coast Guard says.

According to initial reports, 14 of the 21 aboard the dragon boat survived the capsizing. 

The survivors were brought to the Saint Gabriel Medical Center in Kalibo, Aklan, the Coast Guard also says.

The death toll from the sinking of two migrant boats off the coast of Djibouti has risen to 28, with perhaps 130 more still missing.

Two vessels carrying migrants departed from Godaria on the Horn of Africa nation's northeast coast on Tuesday morning but sank in heavy seas 30 minutes into the journey, according to the International Organization for Migration. — AFP

The death toll after a ferry capsized in Lake Victoria in Kenya has risen to 151, state-run TV station TBC says as rescue workers pressed on with the search to find scores more people feared drowned.

Late Friday, the toll had stood at 131, with 40 people known to have survived after the MV Nyerere capsized close to the pier on Ukara Island on Thursday.

The vessel may have been carrying as many as 200 passengers -- double the ferry's capacity -- according to reports on state media. — AFP

A rescue official says 13 people are missing after a fishing boat capsized off Indonesia's main island of Java.

The boat, Bunga Hati 2, capsized Friday in the Java Sea about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Biawak Island off the northern coast of Java.

A spokesman for the local search and rescue agency, Joshua Banjarnahor, says rescuers found the capsized ship and its net but none of the crewmen. — AP

About 300 people gather in a parking lot outside a tourism business to remember the 17 people killed when one of its duck boats capsized in storm-tossed water.

The mourners Friday night sing Amazing Grace and pray, some of them holding candles. Another 75 gather at Brookside Church in Branson to pray. — AP

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill says she'll examine "legislative solutions" to increase the safety of amphibious vehicles like duck boats after the tragedy in Branson.

The Democratic senator didn't offer specifics after she was briefed Friday evening by officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. Both agencies are investigating the Thursday evening accident on Table Rock Lake that killed 17 people. — AP

A Missouri sheriff says at least 11 people have now been confirmed dead after a boat carrying tourists on a lake in a popular vacation city capsized and sank.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader says seven people have been hospitalized and five others remain missing. He says divers have ended their search of Table Rock Lake in Branson for the night.

Rader says stormy weather is believed to be what caused the Ride the Ducks boat to capsize Thursday night. — AP

Police say their investigations into the sinking of two boats off Thailand's southern resort island of Phuket last week are progressing. The sinking of one boat left 45 Chinese tourists dead and two still missing.

The double-decker tour boat Phoenix capsized and sank late Thursday afternoon after it was hit by 5-meter (16-foot) waves in one of Thailand's worst tourism-related disasters in recent years.

Everyone from the second boat that sank last week was rescued.

Thai officials say both boats went to sea despite official warnings about the rough weather, and they have been pursuing legal action against those involved. — AP

Thailand's government pledged Sunday to ensure justice for Chinese victims of a tour boat that sank in a storm off the southern resort island of Phuket, killing 42 people and leaving another 14 missing, The Associated Press reports.

Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said the government will "spare no one" as it seriously investigates the tragedy, one of the largest tourism-related disasters in Thailand since a 2004 tsunami that killed thousands.

Police were investigating whether the double-decker Phoenix dive boat had been inspected by marine officials as required before it set sail Thursday, Weerasak said. The meteorological department issued warnings for small ships not to go to sea that day but bigger boats like the Phoenix could sail after inspection.

The death toll from Thursday's tragedy climbed to 38, in Thailand's biggest tourist-related disaster in years. It was not clear how many of the dead and missing were Chinese. The previous announced death toll was 33, with authorities saying all of those victims were Chinese. — AP

China's President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out search and rescue efforts for 23 missing Chinese tourists whose boat sank in a storm off the Thai tourist island of Phuket.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Xi asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese diplomats in Thailand to take greater measures, and also urges Thai authorities to spare no effort in the search operation.

Xi also asked authorities to warn travel agencies and travelers against risks and help them take precautions during summer holidays. — AP