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MANILA, Philippines ? The 15 Filipino crew members, who were rescued from the Barbados-registered cargo vessel MV Kea that sank in Spain last week, arrived in the country Thursday.
The crew members were welcomed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor, as well as representatives of the local manning agency and indemnity insurance company.
They were Renato Aguirre, Pablo Ventura, Corteza Carlitos, Jerome Dinoy, Dante Evalle, Ronnie Matias, Freddie Nunez, Arron Pamplona, Jonebit Rizan, Saturnino Romarante, Percy Leba, Eufronoio Libaton, Jovencio Pallado, Junniel Petracorta and Orlando Dacayanan.
Scheduled to arrive on Friday, from Amsterdam are two others who were rescued in Rotterdam by another vessel, MV Sapphire. They are Franklin Belano and Roldan Macatangay who were brought to the Philippine embassy in The Hague by a representative of the SCUA Rotterdam B.V., their vessel?s insurance company, who met them upon their arrival in Rotterdam on April 3. They were then immediately issued travel documents.
MV Kea sank in Cape Villano in Galicia, Spain, from St. Petersberg, Russia, to Columbia on March 29 due to bad weather. It had 19 Filipino seafarers on board.
A report from the embassy quoted Belano and Macatangay as saying that their vessel was hit by strong waves due to bad weather near the Atlantic coast of Galicia, Spain. As a result, the ship suffered mechanical trouble and had substantial damage including gaping holes in the hull.
Their captain sent out a call for help and ordered the crew to abandon ship. Within a short time, two ships within the vicinity and a rescue helicopter from the Spanish maritime authorities arrived. The two swam to the MV Sapphire while the others were rescued by the helicopter and the other ship.
Two more Filipino crew members have remained missing but the DFA did not release their names.
