A Philippine Navy gunboat rescued on Tuesday a yacht with 13 foreign
nationals and three Filipino tourists on board near Apo Island, off
Southern Negros.
Lt. (j.g.) Froilan Villaviza, executive officer of the BRP Jose
Andrada, told the Inquirer that they rescued the MV Esmeralda del Mar
some five nautical miles northeast of Apo island at 11:24 a.m. after it
radioed for help. The yacht was rendered inoperable when its rudder got
detached as it was nearing the popular scuba-diving destination.
On board were 10 American, two British, one German and three Filipino tourists.
The passengers were guests of the Coco Groove Beach resort in San
Juan town in Siquijor, where the boat came from, Villaviza said.
Villaviza said all the passengers and the yacht’s four crewmen were safe and were taken to Apo Island.
The BRP Jose Andrada, skippered by Lt. Rainier Pagsugiron, conducts
regular patrols off Negros Oriental, southern Cebu, Siquijor and Bohol.
This was the Philippine Navy’s second rescue operation of a passenger boat in two days.
Last Sunday, the Navy dispatched a vessel, along with another boat
from the Philippine Coast Guard, to assist the disabled Azamara Quest,
an 11-deck cruise ship that had lost power after an engine room fire and
was drifting in the southwestern Philippines.
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Alex Rey Pal | Inquirer Visayas | April 3, 2012 | Article Link
