Four rescued from capsized speedboat off Tawi-Tawi, Philippines

Vessel crews of the Philippine Navy came to the aid of four people who had gone adrift in the waters off Tawi-Tawi province after their speedboat capsized on Thursday, October 7.

On the morning (local time) of Friday, October 8, a Philippine Navy monitoring station received an alert from the crew of a passing commercial ship saying that four people were adrift in the water near an overturned boat just off Tawi-Tawi’s Sibutu Passage.

After receiving the alert, the navy deployed the coastal patrol boat BRP Juan Magluyan and a multi-purpose attack craft (MPAC) to the castaways’ reported position to render assistance.

The survivors were sighted seven nautical miles off Bongao Island and later brought aboard the patrol boat and the MPAC.

The castaways included two Filipino and two Malaysian nationals. All four had suffered minor injuries resulting from their having been adrift for several hours.

The survivors said they had earlier departed Sabah, Malaysia, and were en route to Bongao Island when they encountered rough sea conditions that caused their boat to capsize at around 18:00 on Thursday.

The rescued sailors were later brought to Tawi-Tawi, where they were provided with medical attention by Philippine Navy personnel.