One crew member died and two others were missing when a Philippine-flagged cargo ship sank off an island in the centre of the country.
Coast Guard station commander, Bryhl Amay, the cargo ship, Jerlyn Kathness, was taken down by big waves in the San Bernardino Strait off the island of Samar on Monday, 30 December, 2024 with passing vessels rescuing 11 of the 15 crew members overnight.
Amay further stated that after over 25 hours in the water, another crew member managed to swim ashore to the tiny island of San Juan before dawn Tuesday, 31 December, 2024.
The Coast Guard station commander added that fishermen retrieved the body of another crew member off the island of Biri, just as he also added that a search for the two still missing crew members was underway Tuesday.
According to him, the vessel was ferrying 24 tonnes of cement to Samar from the central island of Cebu.
The official could not immediately provide other details about the sunken vessel, which a tracking website described as a 199-tonne general cargo ship built in 1993.
