Four Filipinos among 31 survivors after Taiwanese ship hits Korean reefer

Four Filipino sailors were among 31 survivors after their ship was hit by a Taiwanese vessel in the waters of the Pacific Ocean between Papua New Guinea and Solomon Island last June 8.

Mark Anthony Camense’s video showed that Korean Reefer Ship Momyo sank following its collision with the Taiwanese vessel Viva Fafa.

One seaman was even seen trapped in the whirlwind like water before the Korean ship sank. Sailors were also heard shouting “outside, outside” to instruct the seaman to move away with the sinking ship.

When the situation was controlled, the passengers of the Viva Fafa rescued the affected individuals using a skip boat and net boat.

According to Joseph Morong’s report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, the Filipinos went fishing and were about to return to Solomon Islands when the incident happened.

“Yung ilalim po kasi ng barko namin, biyak na ‘yun, sir. Kaya noong time nang pinasok tubig, makikita ninyo sa video na tumupi ang barko tapos dumiretso pailalim kasi gawa nga ng impact ng tubig pumasok sa loob ng (barko),” Jovencio Mariano, one of the survivors, said.

(The bottom part of our ship was broken. So when the water entered, you can see in the video that the ship folded and then sank because of the impact of the water entering inside (the ship).

Jhoecel Asturias, also a survivor, said that they jumped off the water without retrieving any belongings except from their cellphones.

“Nakita namin ‘yung tubig malapit na sa sahig ng kwarto namin. Wala na kaming nailigtas, yung cellphone na lang talaga nailigtas namin,” Asturias noted.

(We saw the water near the floor of our room. We didn't save anything, we only saved our cellphones.)

Fortunately, all 31 passengers of the Korean ship which included Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese and Ghanian crew were safe.

“Akala nga namin hindi na kami makalabas kasi ammonia, sir,” Camense stated.

(We thought we couldn't get out because of ammonia, sir.)

The Filipino sailors said the incident is already being investigated.

“Hindi masabing aksidente dahil yung kapitan nila ayaw pabuksan yung radar nila,” another survivor Marielo Bautista said. “Nakasara lahat ng radar.”

(It cannot be called an accident because their captain does not want to turn on their radar. All the radars were turned off.)

The Filipinos who survived the shipwreck are now in Taiwan to do some paperwork. However, they have nothing else in mind but to return to the Philippines.

Camense said he is worried about his eight-month-old child who is currently in the hospital.

“Malaki yung bill sir. Hindi pa namin alam kung saan kami kukuha ng billing. Kapos kami, wala pa kami sahod,” he stated.

(The bill is getting bigger, sir. We don’t yet know where we will get the money to pay the hospital bill. We are short of budget, we do not have a salary yet.)

GMA News has sought Overseas Welfare Administration for a comment regarding the incident but has yet to respond as of posting time. —Mel Matthew Doctor/NB, GMA News