A small Filipino fishing boat was damaged at sea by large waves near Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Shoal a couple of days ago. The 8 fishermen from Bolinao, Pangasinan sailed off to sea to catch fish despite the warnings of the Philippine Coast Guard about the approaching bad weather. The Coast Guard said fishermen in these areas often ignore warnings. You really can't blame these poor folks, they have no other choice; they have mouths to feed.
As their boat was submerged and useless due to the big waves, the 8 fishermen held on to their craft; eating uncooked rice and raw fish, drinking sea water and chewing on Styrofoam to survive. They stayed that way for three long days and they were getting weaker and weaker each passing moment but they kept holding on to their boat, hoping that a ship will rescue them soon.
Then on the fourth day the men spotted a large vessel approaching them and they thought that rescue has finally arrived but they were all wrong, dead wrong. The shipping vessel went straight at them without slowing down and rammed their broken fishing boat to smithereens. The men had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by the ship and to steer clear of the ship's propellers. The ship bore a "HONG KONG" name at its aft or the back of the craft according to the survivors.
Luckily 4 of the fishermen were rescued by fellow fisher folks somewhere in La Union but one of their companions later died at the hospital due injuries after the ramming of their boat and severe dehydration. 4 others are still missing and there's a new storm coming the his weekend in our area of responsibility according to weathermen. Let's all pray for the safety, survival and immediate rescue of the remaining 4 fishermen still missing at sea. May God help them survive the deadly seas....
The survivors said the ship may belong to the Chinese because of its HONG KONG markings but the Philippine Coast Guard is not quick on stating that the ship is indeed owned by China. The Coast Guard is also verifying reports that the ship deliberately rammed the fishing boat since a shipping vessel that large cannot easily notice a small half sunken boat from afar. It could have been an honest mistake on the ship's part. The Philippine Government is exerting all efforts to find the missing men. I hope they find and rescue them soon before the new storm hits our country....
As their boat was submerged and useless due to the big waves, the 8 fishermen held on to their craft; eating uncooked rice and raw fish, drinking sea water and chewing on Styrofoam to survive. They stayed that way for three long days and they were getting weaker and weaker each passing moment but they kept holding on to their boat, hoping that a ship will rescue them soon.
Then on the fourth day the men spotted a large vessel approaching them and they thought that rescue has finally arrived but they were all wrong, dead wrong. The shipping vessel went straight at them without slowing down and rammed their broken fishing boat to smithereens. The men had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by the ship and to steer clear of the ship's propellers. The ship bore a "HONG KONG" name at its aft or the back of the craft according to the survivors.
Luckily 4 of the fishermen were rescued by fellow fisher folks somewhere in La Union but one of their companions later died at the hospital due injuries after the ramming of their boat and severe dehydration. 4 others are still missing and there's a new storm coming the his weekend in our area of responsibility according to weathermen. Let's all pray for the safety, survival and immediate rescue of the remaining 4 fishermen still missing at sea. May God help them survive the deadly seas....
The survivors said the ship may belong to the Chinese because of its HONG KONG markings but the Philippine Coast Guard is not quick on stating that the ship is indeed owned by China. The Coast Guard is also verifying reports that the ship deliberately rammed the fishing boat since a shipping vessel that large cannot easily notice a small half sunken boat from afar. It could have been an honest mistake on the ship's part. The Philippine Government is exerting all efforts to find the missing men. I hope they find and rescue them soon before the new storm hits our country....
It's probably from China! I think they are monitoring the Scarborough shoal if anyone is there. We must do something to stop China in doing that, because the shoal is not officially belong to them.
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