2 more bodies recovered from Catalyn-B ship wreck

Diving teams had retrieved the remains of at least two more victims in the Christmas Eve sinking of the passenger vessel Catalyn-B off Cavite, the Philippine Coast Guard said Wednesday. PCG Metro Manila district commander Commodore Luis Tuason Jr. said they will need to schedule at least two more diving missions before ending search-and-retrieval operations. In a report to PCG head Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, Tuason said Coast Guard divers and a team from the Philippine Technical Divers found on Tuesday a female body identified as that of Cecille Abeleda. Last Monday, they found the remains of Abeleda’s sister-in-law, Aiza. On the other hand, Tuason's report also said there is still a portion of the ship, on the rear section of the main deck accommodation, that has not yet been thoroughly checked. He said there is much debris such as wood blocking the way of the divers. Tuason said they have to remove these obstacles first and check if there are bodies trapped in this area. In his report, Tuason said they have initially scheduled the last two dives for Thursday and Friday. He added the divers are requesting that they resume diving operations after they have made repairs on some of their equipment, such as their diving suits, which was damaged Tuesday. As of last count, the PCG said there were 27 casualties and 46 survivors in the incident. The wooden-hulled Catalyn B sank after colliding with the steel-hulled fishing vessel Anatalya off Limbones Island in Cavite last December 24. - KBK, GMANews.TV