Fisher says collision of their boat with commercial ship an accident

PCG shares a photo of the ill-fated FFB Dearyn, the fishing boat which collided with a commercial ship in the West Philippine Sea.

MANILA, Philippines — A fisherman who survived the deadly collision between the fishing boat he was in and an oil tanker in the West Philippines Sea said he believes what happened was an accident.

“Aksidente po talaga (It was really an accident),” said Johnny Manlolo, 40, during a press conference organized by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Manlolo is one of the 11 survivors of the maritime incident between the FFB Dearyn and Pacific Anna, a crude oil tanker registered under the Marshall Islands.

“Sa sobrang laki po siguro ng barko, hindi po nila naramdaman dahil maliit lang po ‘yung sa amin,” he noted.

(The ship was so big they did not feel the impact because our boat was just small.)

Last Monday, three crew members of the fishing boat were killed while one sustained minor injuries following the collision some 85 nautical miles (NM) northwest of Scarborough Shoal also locally known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal or 180 NM from Agno, Pangasinan.

The fishing boat, which was moored to a “payao” or a fish aggregating device, eventually capsized after the collision.

“Bigla po kaming tumaob, nalaglag na po kami lahat sa tubig, hindi na po alam ang mga sumunod na nangyari, kanya kanya na lang po kaming languyan,” he recalled.

(The boat suddenly capsized, we were thrown off the water, we did not know what happened next — we just all swam at once.)

“Nakasampa naman ako sa bangka namin na nakataob, at yung kasama ko pong isa, nakalabas din po siya doon sa bangka namin.

(I managed to climb the capsized boat, and one of my fellow fisherfolk managed to get out of it.)

“Kinakatok ko po ‘yung bangka namin kung may tao po ba sa loob. Nakailang katok po ako sa bangka, may sumagot po na isa … gumawa na po siya ng paraan para makalabas.

(I was knocking at the boat to see if there were people inside. I knocked a few times, someone answered, and he found a way to go out.)

“Ang ginawa naming tatlo, umakyat na lang kami sa taas, para doon na lang po kami magpa-umaga,” Manlolo recalled.

(The three of us climbed above the capsized boat to wait until morning there.)

The bodies of the three victims are brought to shore on Tuesday in Infanta, Pangasinan. —PCG PHOTO

The three other fishermen did not make it: one was found lifeless, while the two others were trapped inside the boat.

“Lumutang po yung kasama naming matanda, patay na. Ang nangyari po, wala na po kaming magawa doon sa matanda, tinali na lang namin siya, para hindi lumayo yung kanyang bangkay,” he further narrated.

(Our old fellow was found floating; he is already dead. What happened was, we didn’t know what to do with his remains, we just tied him up so his remains would not float away.)

“At yung dalawa po na kasama namin, yung kapitan at ‘yung pamangkin niya po, hindi na po nakalabas; hindi na din po namin magawang sisirin, dahil mahina na din po kami,” he added.

(And two of our fellow fishers — the captain and his nephew — did not manage to go out. We could not dive to try and get them since we were already weak.)

RELATED STORIES: 

Marshall Islands-listed oil tanker eyed in Scarborough Shoal collision – PCG

DFA awaits probe result on fishermen’s death in Bajo de Masinloc

PCG chief: Collision off Scarborough nothing to do with WPS issues

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