Philippine authorities begin search for missing passengers from sunken dive yacht

By Baird Maritime - May 1, 2023.

*The dive yacht Dream Keeper, which sank off Palawan, Philippines, on April 30, 2023. Four of the vessel's 32 occupants are still missing as of May 1, 2023. (Photo: Philippine Coast Guard)*

The Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Navy, and other local partner agencies have begun a search operation in an attempt to locate four passengers of a dive yacht that sank off the western Philippine province of Palawan on Sunday, April 30.

The coast guard multi-role response vessel BRP Melchora Aquino, the navy patrol craft BRP Carlos Albert, and two boats from the Tubbataha Reef National Park have been deployed to comb the waters off Tubbataha Reef in Palawan as part of the search and rescue (SAR) response following the sinking of the dive yacht Dream Keeper.

The coast guard said it received an alert at around 06:50 local time on Sunday saying that the yacht sank with 32 passengers and crew on board. The vessel arrived in the reef at 22:00 on Saturday, April 29, after having earlier departed San Remigio in Cebu province.

Only 28 of the yacht’s occupants have been successfully rescued.

Additional SAR assets including helicopters will be deployed to the area within the week to help locate any trace of the missing passengers.

The coast guard has also begun coordinating with Dream Keeper‘s shipmanager to notify the next of kin of the four missing individuals.