Coast Guard saves 9 Vietnamese fishers off Palawan

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday said it rescued nine Vietnamese fishermen off the coast of Palawan after their vessel drifted to shallow waters due to bad weather over the weekend.

Reports reaching the PCG showed the fishing vessel, the Qng 95712, encountered rough weather on Saturday, causing it to drift to Bowen Island southeast of Palawan and north of Bugsuk Island.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, Palawan Coast Guard District commander, directed search and rescue operations after the PCG action center in Manila and the Vietnam Search and Rescue Coordination Center reported the incident at 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

Those rescued were identified as boat captain Bui Viet Anh, Bui Quoc Trung, Vo Hung, Pham Quoc Vinh, Nguyen Van Nhon, Levan Khanh, Nguyen Tan, Truong Van Hoang and Nguyen Van Tri.

Evangelista said initial investigation showed no major damage to the vessel which was loaded with water and ice. The fishermen could not explain how they ended up within the Philippines’ area of responsibility since none of them could speak English, said the Coast Guard officer.

Evangelista said it was suspicious how the fishermen ended up in Palawan. He said they will be turned over to the Palawan Committee on Illegal Entrants for processing and for further investigation.  Jocelyn R. Uy