The Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday, September 29, ended attempts to retrieve the body of a Cadiz resident from a fishing boat that sank between Carles town in Iloilo province and Sicogon Island, and the search for the remains of his companion, Commander Jansen Benjamin, Philippine Coast Guard Western Visayas District chief of staff, said.
The PCG has terminated its five-day search and retrieval operations, Benjamin said.
The PCG has recommended that the owner of FB St. Peter the Fisherman II consider refloating the vessel that sank 43 meters deep in order to retrieve the body of the cook Julian Dungog intact, he said.
Divers attempted twice to retrieve the body of Dungog, which was in a very advanced state of decomposition, from the vessel but the pathway was too narrow to pull it out, Benjamin said, adding that his family has been informed.
Benjamin said they have not found Manuel Auditor, the vessel’ third engineer, who was said to be sleeping in a hammock on top of the vessel when it sunk.
They do not know if he was also trapped in the vessel or was able to jump off, he said.
The sunken vessel was wrapped in its fishing net with decomposing fish in it, Benjamin said.
The bodies of seven of the boat’s crew members had been retrieved earlier.
On Friday, 22 others on board the FB St. Peter the Fisherman II owned by Tristar Shipping Corp. based in Cadiz City were rescued, along with three others on its skiff boat.*