18 remain missing from sunken cargo ship

MANILA, Philippines - Four days after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) launched a search and rescue mission, the 18 missing crewmen of the M/V Starlite Atlantic, which sank in Batangas at the height of Typhoon Nina a day after Christmas, have yet to be found.

PCG Batangas station head Commander Raul Belesario said that up to noon yesterday the statistics remain at one dead, 14 rescued and 18 missing.

When the 1,497 gross ton roll-on roll-off vessel sank at 11 a.m. of Dec. 26 near Balahibongmanoc Island in Tingloy, Batangas, it was carrying 33 crewmen. Of them, only Lyka Mae Banayal was reported to have perished.

Belesario said their operations have already reached as far as Quezon province in the search for the missing crew, 11 of whom are said to be students doing on-the-job training.

“According to the company (Starlite Ferries), the cadets are part of their crew but in order to graduate their four-year course they are required to train on board a ship. They are cadets but they are given positions on board the ship,” he added.

They have also alerted other Coast Guard districts, conducted aerial search and issued a notice to mariners (NOTAM) to be on the lookout for the missing crew when their ships pass through Batangas or its vicinity.  

Commodore Joel Garcia, PCG officer-in-charge, said he is not discounting the possibility that some of the missing crew might have been trapped inside the sunken ship.