The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Thursday said the ramming of a boat that left three Filipino fishermen dead in the waters off Pangasinan was an accident.
In a briefing, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela said the foreign oil tanker, believed to be the Marshall Island-flagged Pacific Anna, probably did not notice the FFB Dearyn because the area was dark, and the weather was bad.
“We can say that this was not deliberate,” Tarriela said in a mix of English and Filipino. “This was an accident.”
Tarriela also said the location of the incident was about 180 nautical miles off Agno, Pangasinan, and not Scarborough Shoal in WPS as earlier reported.
“I would like to correct our earlier statement mentioning Bajo de Masinloc,” he said.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Admiral Artemio Abu said the ramming incident was unrelated to tensions in the WPS.
“It has nothing to do with the issue in the West Philippine Sea,” Abu said.
Tarriela said the government will still assert liability claims against the owner of the foreign vessel.
“If it is proven that the vessel was really in the area where the incident happened… we will reach out to the flag of registry… to help us in asserting liability claims on the owners of the vessel.”
Abu said he already ordered a marine casualty investigation and had already invited the survivors of the incident to Manila so investigators can get the information firsthand.
The PCG said one of the survivors of the FFB Dearyn said they were rammed before dawn on Monday, Oct. 2.
The boat sank, resulting in the death of its 47-year-old captain and two other crew members. Eleven members of the crew survived.
The PCG, quoting a survivor, said the fishing boat was moored to a payao, a raft used to attract and catch fish, when the collision happened.
Alexander Corpuz, commander of the Coast Guard Pangasinan, told the ANC news channel that the operators should report the location of their payao so they can share this information through a notice to mariners and inform navigators of their presence.
But Corpuz also said the owner and captain of the foreign vessel were accountable for the incident.
“Regardless of if they didn’t see it (the payao) or if they saw it and didn’t take any action to help those fishermen, they’re liable,” he said in Filipino.
The vessel could have also violated the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea when it failed to conduct immediate search and rescue operations after the collision, he said.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista called on the public to refrain from speculation that could affect the ongoing probe into the maritime collision.
He said his department would coordinate with the PCG on the next steps after the investigation.
He said the PCG is collating the statements of the 11 fishers who survived the collision as part of the investigation.