The Philippine Navy is continuing its search and rescue operations in the West Philippine Sea for four Filipino sailors who remain missing after their cargo vessel capsized on Friday.
In an update released Sunday, the Navy confirmed that 17 other crew members have been safely rescued following the sinking of the Singaporean-flagged M/V Devon Bay.
The vessel, which was transporting iron ore, capsized approximately 141 nautical miles west of Pangasinan, in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc.
The BRP Jose Rizal (FF150) remains on-site leading the search efforts. The Navy is currently coordinating with other government agencies and merchant vessels in the area to locate the remaining crew.
Simultaneously, the Navy is maintaining search operations near the Philippine-Indonesia maritime boundary for the motor banca Amejara.
Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao has deployed the BRP Artemio Ricarte (PS37), BRP Tagbanua (LC296), and a Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft to the southern waters.
As of Saturday, search teams recovered four bodies in connection with the Amejara incident.
The remains were transferred to the BRP Artemio Ricarte for identification.
The Philippine Navy stated that operations in both the West Philippine Sea and the southern maritime borders will continue until all missing individuals are accounted for.
