Batangas port resumes operations; 7 still missing from capsized boat

Batangas port resumes operations; 7 still missing from capsized boat

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Dec. 27 (PNA) — One of the CALABARZON region’s largest ports — the port of Batangas in Batangas City — has resumed operations Tuesday with no more stranded passengers and vessels, according to the latest report of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) IV-A station here.

OCD IV-A also reported that seven crew members of the M/V Starlite Atlantic that capsized Monday are still missing, while 14 had been rescued and one was found dead. The ill-fated vessel had 22 crew members.

Accordingly, M/V Starlite Atlantic was docked in a port when the crew planned to move the ship to another location at the height of Typhoon “Nina” when it was caught by big waves and rapid current, causing the vessel to be swept away to the direction of San Isidro Village in Tingloy town and sank.

The responding San Isidro Village Rescue Team in coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rescued 14 crew members while eight were initially declared missing but the body of the Lyka Banaynal, 20, from Parañaque, Metro Manila was retrieved Monday evening.

The survivors were brought to the PCG headquarters and turned over to the shipping company for transfer to Camillus Medical Hospital for treatment.

Search and Rescue (SAR) operation by the PCG Special Operations Group and Disaster Response Group along with BRP Pampanga is still ongoing. (PNA)
LAP/SEP/ZAT/R. MAICO/EDS