NAVY personnel assigned with the Joint Task Group Sulu have rescued a vessel in distress in the Sulu Sea, a top military official said Thursday.
Brigadier General Alan Arrojado, Joint Task Group Sulu commander, named the rescued vessel as M/L Rihanna 2, a wooden-hulled ferry.
Arrojado said the rescue came after the crew of another wooden-hulled vessel, M/L Fatima, reported to the Navy personnel aboard Patrol Gunboat 381 (PG-381) that M/L Rihanna 2 is in distress.
M/L Fatima's crew told the PG-381 personnel that the M/L Rihanna 2’s engine conked out while in the waters off Pangutaran, Sulu, around 9 a.m. Thursday.
Arrojado said the vessel was bound for Taganak, Tawi-Tawi, coming from Zamboanga City when it encountered engine trouble.
The personnel aboard PG-381 launched search and rescue operation after they managed to establish radio contact with the crew of M/L Rihanna 2.
The PG-318 towed M/L Rihanna 2 to safety. They arrived around 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Warid pier, Jolo, Sulu.