TWO of the six crew members of a tugboat that sank during the onslaught of Typhoon Odette (Rai) were retrieved on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 25, 2021.
Identities of the crew members were not yet available as their bodies were already in a state of decomposition.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) divers recovered the bodies of the crew members of mv Ida, which capsized in the waters near the port of Barangay Tayud, Consolacion, northern Cebu last Thursday, Dec. 16.
Capt. Alvin Dagalea, PCG Cebu commander, said the bodies of the retrieved crew members wearing life jackets were stuck in the tugboat.
The PCG continued its retrieval operation as of this writing on Sunday, Dec. 26.
Mv Ida and its crew took shelter in Tayud during the onslaught of the typhoon on Thursday evening.
On the same evening, past 10 p.m., a crew member of mv Lite Ferry 8 died after he drowned when the ship sank.
The ship was docked at THI ship repair area in Barangay Buanoy, Balamban when it sank.
The fatality was identified as Leonardo Martorillas. His six other fellow crew members survived.
Also, the PCG Cebu reported last Dec. 24 that 245 cargo/passenger sea vessels ran aground, seven sank and 13 capsized.
Dagalea said they are still monitoring if there are other sea vessels that met a tragic fate during Typhoon Odette’s onslaught.
The Coast Guard official said reports about troubled sea vessels have been slow trickling in their office because of poor communication signal.
Several PCG Cebu substations have yet to send in their reports, Dagalea said. (KAL)