PCG searches passenger who fell overboard in Calatagan , Batangas

THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Batangas continues its search for a person who fell overboard onboard a cargo-passenger vessel at vicinity waters of Calatagan, Batangas yesterday, 31 October 2023.

At approximately 3:50 PM on the said date, a man overboard incident occurred involving Mr. Ralph Bernard Gerona, 26 years old, a resident of Iloilo City, onboard MV MALIGAYA.

Said vessel is a passenger vessel owned by 2GO Shipping Corporation which has a gross tonnage of 29.05 and net tonnage of 12.56. MV MALIGAYA, enroute from Manila to Bacolod, had 126 crew members and 425 passengers onboard when the incident occurred. 

The PCG alerted the Vessel Traffic Management Service (VTMS)-Corregidor operator regarding the man overboard incident.

Coast Guard Sub Station Calatagan initiated a search and rescue operation immediately, involving coordination with VTMS Batangas, Sea Marshall personnel onboard MV MALIGAYA, and CGSS Lubang. Transiting vessels in the vicinity, including MV Solid Sun, assisted in the search efforts.

Despite extensive efforts, the victim was not located due to poor visibility, leading to the termination of the search operation at 6:20 PM. 

Plans for resuming the search are contingent upon weather conditions. The PCG will continue monitoring the situation and coordinate with relevant parties for updates on the search.

Further progress reports will be provided as the situation develops.