20 crew missing after Philippine ship runs aground in typhoon
21 April, 2021
A search was underway on Tuesday (Apr 20) for 20 crew members missing in the Philippines after their cargo ship ran aground while seeking shelter from rough waters churned up by a typhoon, the coast guard said.
The crew abandoned the vessel loaded with nickel ore on Monday after it hit the shore at Malimono town on the southern island of Mindanao.
Eighteen of them were still in a life raft when contact was lost on Tuesday, coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said. The whereabouts of the other two are not known.
"We'd contact until today while their life raft was drifting. Search and rescue teams are experiencing a hard time because of strong waves," said Balilo, adding an aerial search was also being conducted.
"They reported to the (coast guard) station commander that two members of their crew were separated from their website."
Balilo said that they had not received a written report on the condition of the Philippine-registered Cebu Great Ocean, that was carrying 2,000L of diesel fuel.
At least two persons have died in the central Philippines as Typhoon Surigae skirts the united states, forcing almost 160,000 people to get emergency shelter from flooding and strong winds, a tragedy agency said.
Surigae is not likely to make landfall, but is packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 175km one hour near its centre, practically 500km off the country's east coast.
Thousands of individuals and a huge selection of vessels were stranded at seaports, authorities said, as the typhoon moved slowly in a northwesterly direction off the key island of Luzon.
It was likely to veer away from the united states in the coming days, the state weather service said.
The Philippines is hit by typically 20 storms and typhoons every year, a dangerous and disruptive part of life in the united states.
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