PIA Press Release
Thursday, January 05, 2012 Search and rescue operations for 22 Vietnamese vessel crewsby Jennilyne C. Role SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Jan. 5 (PIA) –- Search and rescue operations for the 22 Vietnamese vessel crew on board MV Vinalines Queen, that sunk December 25 last year, is being conducted along the western sea area of the Ilocos region. The MV Vinalines Queen, a Vietnam registered bulk carrier, reportedly sunk off Calayan Island Cagayan due to bad weather condition. Said vessel was en route to China to ship nickel ores loaded from Indonesia. According to LTJG Jay Tarriela, Operations officer of the Coast Guard District Northern Luzon, as of this writing, only one of the vessel crew had reportedly been rescued by a passing foreign vessel. The remaining 22 Vietnamese crews are still missing. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) immediately directed its two Coast Guard Stations in Basco, Batanes, and Aparri, Cagayan to advise all transiting vessels to be on the lookout for possible survivors of the ill-fated MV Vinalines Queen and render necessary assistance once sighted. Moreover, the coastal barangays in the province of Cagayan and Batanes were also alerted for the possibility that some of the vessel’s survivors could have landed in their shores. As of this morning, the PCG Islander was deployed, together with two Vietnamese Shipping Company representatives for an aerial search in the western sea area of Ilocos Region for survivors. (JCR-PIA 1 La Union) | 
