THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) responded to a maritime incident that involved two cargo vessels, the MV Seaborne Cargo 5 that went aground, and sister vessel MV Seaborne Cargo 6, which experienced engine trouble about 200 meters away from the shoreline of Barangay. Masaguitsit, Lobo, Batangas on Thursday.
Investigation showed that the MV Seaborne Cargo 6 has departed from Manila bound for Iloilo containing 140 containers of various goods.
The captain of MV Seaborne Cargo 6 informed his crew about the engine trouble while traveling at the proximity waters off of Verde Island, Batangas, and called for immediate assistance.
Meanwhile, MV Seaborne Cargo 5, which was carrying 1,629 hog heads and 113 heads of cattle, was traveling from Bohol bound for Manila when it was called to proceed to Verde Island, Batangas to provide support to its sister vessel.
Upon arrival, MV Seaborne Cargo 5 towed MV Seaborne Cargo 6 to the nearest port area at the vicinity of Lobo, Batangas for the necessary repairs.
However, upon leaving to return to its original destination, the MV Seaborne Cargo 5 itself went aground in shallow waters in the said vicinity.
The PCG immediately sent out a team from its marine environmental protection unit to supervise inspection and to assure that the incident caused no other marine environmental damages and to provide further assistance to the two vessels.
According to the captains of the two vessels, MV Seaborne Cargo 5 had 22 crew members, and 23 crew members for the MV Seaborne Cargo 6. All crew members were all safe and in good condition.
The PCG told the captains and shipowners of the cargo vessels to always check their engines and to strictly abide by safety standards to prevent further maritime incidents.
The captains were also briefed to file a marine protest to the PCG Station Batangas and seek an accredited salvor to immediately conduct salvage operations.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Philippine Coast Guard)