A FASTCRAFT plying the Zamboanga-Isabela route sank early Tuesday, October 7, 2025, while docked at the port of Zamboanga amid the inclement weather.
Samuel Sabanal, skipper of the Weesam Express 8, said the vessel listed and sank around 5:20 a.m. Tuesday more than an hour before its schedule to sail to Basilan.
Weesam Express 8 is set to sail at 6:45 a.m. to Basilan via Isabela City.
It is owned and operated by a locally-owned shipping firm -- SRN Fast Seacrafts Inc.
Sabanal said it was past 3 a.m. when the crew noticed the engine room was flooded with water.
"They immediately get a water pump to flush it out but they were overwhelmed by the inflow of water," Sabanal told reporters.
He said they tried to salvage the vessel with the aid of a tugboat but their efforts failed.
He said all the crewmen are safe as they managed to get out of the vessel before it sank.
The sea water flooded the engine room through a hole, he added.
Sabanal said the incident could have been prevented had the crew reported about the hole in the engine room.
Officials of the SRN Fast Seacrafts Inc., Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and other concerned agencies are looking for ways to refloat the vessel.
The PCG installed oil spill boom around the sunken vessel to prevent possible oil spill at the local port. (SunStar Zamboanga)