2 Pinoy seafarers in sunken cargo ship identified, Malacanang may send search team to Vietnam

 The bodies of two crew members recovered after the Norwegian cargo ship Bulk Jupiter sank off the coast of southern Vietnam have been identified, Vietnamese state media Thanh Nien News said Monday
The bodies were identified as those of captain Ronel Acueza Andrin and third officer Jerome Maquilang Dinoy.
The ship, which was carrying 46,400 tons of bauxite, was manned by 19 all-Filipino crew and left Malaysia Friday en route to China.
Except for the ship’s chief cook, Angelito Capindo Rojas, there are no other known survivors. Search and rescue operations for the 16 other missing Filipino seafarers are hampered by bad weather.
Ships from Liberia, Oman, Singapore, and China were helping the Vietnamese authorities in the search, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
 In a related development, Malacañang has ordered the Department of National Defense to look into the possibility of sending a team to help in the search.
"We are asking the Secretary of National Defense if we can extend assistance," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a briefing on Monday aired over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.
"The Vietnamese Navy has already added three helicopters for the search and they are asking other countries to help. So far, no new remains have been recovered or survivors rescued," Lacierda said.
The ship’s cook said he did not know what caused the ship to sink. He said the ship simply tilted and he immediately put on the life vest.
Thanh Nien quoted Nguyen Anh Vu, general director of Vietnam’s maritime search and rescue operations coordination center, as saying the search operation was hampered by bad weather.
The ship owner, Bergen-based Gearbulk, said the vessel was 155 nautical miles) off Vietnam when it sent a distress signal that was picked up by the Japanese coast guard.
Filipino seafarers constitute among the biggest number of seafarers in the world. Some 250,000 Filipino seafarers are at sea on cargo ships, luxury liners, and passenger ships at any given time.
With Dexter San Pedro, InterAksyon.com

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