New Delhi: Eleven Indian sailors went missing on Friday after their cargo ship sank in the Pacific off the coast of Philippines, prompting Indian missions in the Philippines, Japan and China to launch a search for them, a PTI report said.
According to Japanese coastguards, a distress call was received early Friday from the 33,205-ton Emerald Star, a Hong Kong-registered freighter, from a location about 150 nautical miles (280 km) off the Philippines’ eastern coast. It said 26 crewmembers, all Indians, were aboard.
The coast guard said three passing freighters rescued 16 of the crewmembers from the sea, and a fourth freighter later also joined the search in the area where the Hong Kong ship is believed to have sunk, a report in The Hindu said.
Philippine coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said the agency attempted to dispatch a ship and helicopter to help search the area, which is beyond the country’s territorial waters but were turned back by stormy weather, the report added.
Photos taken by a Japanese coast guard aircraft showed a damaged lifeboat believed to be from the sunken ship floating in choppy waters, along with traces of an oil leak, it added.
The coast guard said the cause of the sinking was not known.
India’s External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Indian missions in the Pacific were regularly monitoring the situation.
“Fifteen Indians rescued, search on for missing 11 following sinking of a ship off Okinawa. Our Missions in Japan, Philippines and China on the job,” he tweeted.
The spokesperson also made public the names of those rescued as received from Japanese officials.
