PH-registered ship rescues 41 refugees from boat off Turkey

A Philippine-registered ship rescued 41 refugees from a distressed wooden-made boat, while the ship was sailing from the Bosporus Channel and heading for Gibraltar in mid last month, the office of Overseas Shipping Service (OSS) of Maritime Industry Authority reported on May 21, 2016.

In a report to Maritime Industry Authority Administrator D. Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr., OSS head Atty. Jean Ver Pia said the Cool Breeze Maritime, Inc. (CBMI), through a letter dated April 27, 2016, informed Marina of the rescue operation conducted by the master and crew of PH-registered MV “Eastern Confidence” on April 16, 2016 while the ship was sailing from Bosporus Channel in direction to Gibraltar.

Pia said accounts received by Marina from CBMI showed it was the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (IMRCC) and the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Piraeus that informed the master of MV “Eastern Confidence,” prompting said master to change the ship’s course to look for the boat in distress. When the MV “Eastern Confidence” sighted the small fishing wooden boat at 16:30 LT, its master and crew promptly rescued the 41 refugees from the fishing boat, who were given food, water and shelter onboard the rescuing ship. The said refugees originally came from Sudan, Egypt, Somalia and Ethiopia, according to CBMI.

After the rescue, the MV “Eastern Confidence” was requested by JRCC to proceed to Katamata, Greece where the refugees disembarked, assisted by the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Pia reported further that this was the ‘second time’ that a ship from the Group of Keeper Maritime, Inc. was involved in a rescue operation at the sea. The first time was in 2015. It involved MV “Evita-K,” formerly chartered by Third Man Maritime, Inc., a sister company of CBMI. During that operation, the ship ably rescued about 200 sea-distressed refugees.