THE company that owns the tugboat that sank in the waters off Barangay Tayud, Consolacion, northern Cebu during the onslaught of Typhoon Odette (Rai) on Thursday evening, December 16, 2021, has been formally notified by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu to retrieve the marine vessel where four of its missing crew members are possibly stuck.

Captain Alvin Dagalea, PCG Cebu commander, told SunStar Cebu on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 that they already sent the notice for the company to conduct an immediate salvage operation.

In earlier reports, the PCG Cebu had reported that only three crew members remain stuck in the tugboat's pilothouse after its divers retrieved three crew members; however, the latest reports from the local Coast Guard unit state that there seven crew members inside mv Ida when the Typhoon Odette hit Cebu.

In the previous report, retrieved bodies were that of Captain Luisito Roble, chief engineer Arthur Saavedra and ordinary seaman Roniel Saavedra.

The corrected report released Tuesday, January 4, states that the retrieved bodies were that of Luciano Roble, tugboat master; Arthur Sarveda, chief engineer; and Ricardo Payot Jr., ordinary seaman.

In the corrected report, the name of Roniel Saavedra is now in the list of missing persons along with three others: Richard Marilao, chiefmate; Artemio Bondaog, oiler; and Rolly Cornejos, crane operator.

Dagalea said mv Ida's owner requested the PCG Cebu time for preparation and planning for the salvage operation, a process of recovering a ship after a shipwreck or other martime casualty.

Mv Ida was taking shelter in the anchorage area in the Tayud waters when Typhoon Odette sank it along with its seven crew members.

The boat's bridge or pilothouse is buried in the muddy seabed, which is about 20 meters from the surface of the water.

Dagalea said the missing crew members are possibly stuck in the pilothouse. (KAL)