Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 27) – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Monday it has deployed search and rescue (SAR) teams with air and floating assets to look for a missing Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel.
According to Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency, the tuna longliner Sheng Feng No. 128 stopped transmitting signals at 2 a.m. on Feb. 18 while it was located 414 nautical miles northwest of Malakal Island in Palau.
One Taiwanese skipper and five Indonesian fishermen crew members from Yanpu port in Donggang Township, Pingtung County were on board the vessel.
The PCG’s incident report said it has directed the coast guard districts of Eastern Visayas, Bicol, Southeastern Mindanao, Northeastern Mindanao, and Northeastern Luzon, to launch SAR operations.
The agency added that on Monday morning, its Aviation Force also dispatched a CESSNA Caravan 2081 to conduct aerial surveillance within the vicinity of waters of Eastern Visayas and Bicol regions to expand the operations.
PCG said there’s a possibility the missing Taiwanese fishing vessel drifted towards the Philippines’ eastern seaboard.
The United States has also helped in locating the fishing vessel through air surveillance but that yielded a negative result.
Eight Taiwanese fishing vessels and two Taiwan Coast Guard cutters are currently searching the vicinity of Palau waters.
