Coast Guard: US sailboat bound for Cebu missing for 5 days

(Updated 4:03 p.m.) A sailboat carrying five American nationals bound for Cebu has been missing for around five days, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Friday. PCG Commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the saiboat, which was decribed as a 38-footer twin-hulled catamaran with a white hull and white sails, left US territory Guam on January 6 and was supposed to arrive in Cebu on January 16. Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said there were five people aboard the sailboat, including a Filipino-American who is a member of the US Air Force. Balilo said the five also included a female. When the sailboat did not reach its destination on the specificied date, Tamayo said relatives of the crew called up the US Coast Guard who conducted a search and rescue operation and coordinated with Philippine authorities. He said the weather during the sailboat's travel was "moderate to very rough" because of a cold front that was affecting the Philippines during that time. Tamayo said they have alerted all local Coast Guard stations and detachments in eastern Visayas, particularly in Samar, Leyte, and Surigao, to join in on the search for the missing sailboat. "We also issued (a) notice to (the) Marines (and) to all vessels transitting in the area to be on the lookout and to render assistance when the sailboat is sighted," he said. In a text message to reporters, PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo also said they will deploy the Coast Guard's islander plane and helicopter to help in the seach. — VVP/RSJ, GMANews.TV