Coast Guard searches for crew of distressed ship off Mindoro Oriental

The Philippine Coast Guard is now searching for at least nine crewmembers of a cargo vessel that reportedly encountered trouble off Oriental Mindoro Friday night. A report on radio dzBB early Saturday cited initial reports reaching the Philippine Coast Guard showing the crew of the “MV Arayat" abandoned the vessel after water started entering it. The report said there was no initial report of casualties as of early Saturday. It added the Coast Guard learned of the incident at about 6 p.m. Friday, with initial information showing the vessel encountered trouble off Calapan in Oriental Mindoro. On the other hand, the Coast Guard is still looking into what caused the ship to take in water. The ship was reportedly carrying a cargo of salt when it encountered trouble. — ELR, GMA News