Fourteen people have gone missing after a recreational dive boat capsized in Davao Gulf in the southern Philippines on Monday, January 19.
The vessel, identified as the wooden-hulled outrigger boat Amejara, had sailed out of the municipality of Governor Generoso in Davao Occidental province with 11 divers and four crewmembers at around 13:00 local time on Monday.
Within hours, personnel at the Philippine Coast Guard station in Governor Generoso were notified that the dive boat had capsized and that its occupants were clinging onto the overturned hull to keep from drowning.
The coast guard deployed the Boracay-class patrol vessel BRP Malamawi to the area in the gulf where the dive boat was last sighted. However, the coast guard crews found no sign of the boat or its occupants by Tuesday evening.
The Philippine Navy and the Philippine National Police are also assisting in the ongoing search effort, which resumed at first light on Tuesday, January 20. Navy assets that have been deployed to the area include the landing craft BRP Tagbanua, the patrol ship BRP Artemio Ricarte, the multi-purpose attack craft BA-491, and a TC-90 maritime surveillance aircraft.
Coast guard and police personnel found one survivor drifting in the gulf on Tuesday. This individual has been identified as one of the four crewmembers of the missing dive boat.