Philippine Coast Guard, Good Samaritans rescue five from capsized fishing boat off Zambales province

The Philippine Coast Guard and some Good Samaritans successfully rescued all five crewmen of a fishing vessel that had capsized in bad weather off Zambales province on Thursday, August 5.

The coast guard first learned of the incident at 21:30 local time on Thursday after a report was received stating that the banca-type fishing vessel Brothers 8 had keeled over due to strong waves.

A coast guard search and rescue (SAR) team immediately deployed to the fishing vessel’s last reported position. However, the search effort was postponed until the following morning due to worsening weather.

At 07:30 on Friday, August 6, a coast guard SAR team boarded a tug owned by local civilian operator Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation and returned to the waters off Zambales to resume the effort to locate the five missing fishermen. El Kapitan, another civilian fishing vessel, had also joined the search operation.

The distressed fishermen were eventually sighted five nautical miles southwest of Zambales’ Capones Island. They were then picked up by the crew of El Kapitan at 12:36.

The survivors suffered no serious injuries despite having been adrift in the water for several hours.

Following further processing, the rescued fishermen were cleared to return to their respective families.