The Philippine Coast Guard has terminated the search and retrieval (SAR) effort that was conducted following the disappearance of a recreational dive boat in Davao Gulf in the southern Philippines last month.
The effort to attempt to locate the dive boat Amejara and eight passengers and crew was concluded approximately one month after it was reported missing on January 19.
Only one person survived among the 15 who were on board the boat when it sailed out of Davao Occidental province on January 18.
The bodies of six deceased victims were recovered by the coast guard and other partner agencies at various points throughout the gulf between January 23 and 25.
The SAR effort in the Davao Gulf then continued and even extended into Indonesia, as Philippine authorities had suspected that the boat may have drifted past the maritime boundary between the two countries.
With the approval of the Indonesian Government, a Philippine Navy surveillance aircraft conducted aerial inspections of Indonesian waters just beyond the maritime boundary.
Despite these efforts, however, no traces of the boat or the last eight occupants have yet been found.
"Throughout this period, all available surface, aerial, and coastal monitoring assets were deployed across designated search areas, including projected drift paths determined through prevailing weather conditions and oceanographic assessments," Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao (CGDSEM) said in a social media post on Wednesday, February 18.
Active operations were concluded on Wednesday, "following comprehensive assessment and upon completion of all planned and extended search efforts," CGDSEM added.