South China Sea: 3 Filipino fishermen die near Scarborough Shoal after being hit by foreign oil tanker
- The fishermen died after their boat was hit by an oil tanker registered under the Marshall Islands’ flag, the Philippine coastguard said on Wednesday
- It said the incident occurred about 160km from Scarborough Shoal on Monday and that 11 crew members had survived the sinking
The incident occurred on Monday while the fishing boat was transiting waters 85 nautical miles (157km) northwest of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, the coastguard said in a statement. Eleven crew members survived after the boat sank.
In a post on its Facebook page, the Philippine coastguard initially said it had responded to a “maritime incident involving a Filipino fishing boat rammed by an unidentified foreign commercial vessel transiting the vicinity waters off Bajo de Masinloc”, as the Philippines calls Scarborough Shoal.
A Filipino crew member of the Dearyn fishing boat told officials that the incident occurred around 4:20am on Monday while they were fishing with their “mother boat” 85 nautical miles (157km) northwest of the shoal.
Their fishing boat submerged, resulting in the death of its three crew members, including its captain, the coastguard said. They were aged 38, 47 and 62.
The 11 crew members who survived the maritime incident used their boats to transport the deceased to Cato barangay in Infanta municipality, Pangasinan province, the coastguard said.