The Philippine Coast Guard successfully rescued all seven crewmembers of a sailing yacht after it caught fire while off the coast of the Philippines' Batangas province on Tuesday, January 27.
The coast guard learned about the incident at around 07:35 local time on Tuesday when an eyewitness aboard another vessel reported that a nearby yacht was ablaze in the waters off Batangas' Tingloy municipality.
A response boat with an embarked coast guard rescue team was immediately deployed to the same area as the burning vessel, which was later identified as the sailing yacht Allusive.
All seven of Allusive's crew were later safely evacuated and brought aboard the vessel accompanying them at the time, the sailing yacht Neptimus 3.
Upon their arrival in the area, the coast guard personnel established a safety perimeter and restricted vessel traffic. The response boat then towed Allusive to shore to clear the area for other passing vessels.
The coast guard later brought the rescued crew to the Port of Batangas for medical assessment. No injuries have been reported.
The yacht's crew were subsequently cleared to return to their port of origin in Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro province approximately 20 kilometres away.
An initial investigation revealed that the fire on Allusive ignited while both it and Neptimus 3 were part of a convoy that was en route to Batangas' Nasugbu municipality to participate in a sailing event.
The coast guard said in a social media post that the blaze may have been triggered by an electrical short in Allusive's engine room.