Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel "M/V Peach Mountain" could be behind last week’s ramming of a Filipino fishing boat off Bolinao, Pangasinan, that left a fisherman dead and four others still missing, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Commander Armando Balilo said Monday.
 
However, Balilo said they are not categorically tagging the Peach Mountain as the culprit. Rather, the ship “is just a suspect.
 
“That was the one that transited the area but we cannot confirm yet. We want to determine if it was really the culprit,” said Balilo.
 
The PCG is now coordinating with the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordinating Center because they are PCG partners when there are maritime incidents, the Coast Guard official noted.
 
“[This is] to find out if the ship that passed Zambales was the one that rammed [the fishing boat],” said Balilo.
 
Balilo revealed the Peach Mountain was enroute to Hong Kong from Indonesia.
 
Anchored in Indonesia
 
Meanwhile, shipspotting.com notes that a Hong Kong-flagged ship called the "Peach Mountain" is a bulk carrier with gross tonnage of 27,235 tons.
 
It said 'Peach Mountain' ran aground in Surabaya channel after colliding with the container vessel 'Uni Premier' sometime in 2006.
 
It was last seen anchored in Indonesia on June 5, 2012.
 
According to the survivors the, word Hong Kong was painted on the ship.
 
Photos of Peach Mountain on shipspotting.com showed “HONG KONG” painted on the ship’s stern.
 
The PCG will again interview  the survivors to make sure that a Hong Kong vessel rammed them.
 
In another interview Sunday, Balilo said the survivors claimed that the vessel that hit them was from Hong Kong.
 
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director Benito Ramos also said a “Chinese vessel” rammed the fishing boat.
 
Balilo said the incident occurred around 78 nautical miles off Bolinao, Pangasinan–a traditional passage lane for commercial vessels.
 
Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan said Monday the alleged ramming of a Philippine fishing boat by a Chinese ship has no relation to the Panatag Shoal issue.
 
"Hindi naman galing sa Scarborough Shoal yung barko," said Tan, noting the incident occurred 123 nautical miles from the disputed shoal.
 
He said the incident happened within a shipping route, where even foreign ships have freedom of navigation, according to the rules of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.


 
'Justice for our fishermen'
 
President Aquino said in an interview Sunday that if the necessary evidence can be gathered to prove that the ramming vessel abandoned the fishermen at sea, this evidence would be “actionable.”
 
“We can go to the appropriate fora to file the necessary charges for justice for our fishermen,” said Aquino.
 
Search and rescue operations for the four missing fishermen continue, but Aquino was unsure if he could visit the three rescued survivors as they were still hypothermic from their ordeal.
 
In an interview on GMA News’ “24 Oras,” survivor Herman Balmores said they were initially heartened by the sight of an approaching ship as their own vessel had broken down in heavy seas.
 
Balmores went on to say that instead of offering them aid, the ship rammed their boat and left them adrift hanging on to what flotsam they could.
 
He said that he took to drinking rainwater and eating Styrofoam in order to survive.
 
“Hinihintay ko na lang mamatay,” he recounted.
 
Balmores is now back in Bolinao, recuperating from his injuries. —AE/DVM/VS, GMA News