FB Dearyn survivors say they saw no light, heard no horn from ship that rammed

Survivors of the sinking of the FB Dearyn by a foreign commercial vessel in waters west of Pangasinan said they neither saw lights nor heard the horn of the ship before it rammed into the fishing boat on Monday.

According to the survivors, FB Dearyn was anchored in the sea while the fishermen waited for the right opportunity to cast their nets.  

"Wala po akong narinig na busina po," one of the survivprs said in their meeting with Subic Mayor Jonathan John Khonghun.

(I didn't hear any horn.)

He also answered in the negative when asked about the ship's lights. 

The survivor said yes when asked if the commercial vessel just went straight ahead.

"Baka po hindi niya naramdaman sa sobrang laki niya po," the fisherman added.

(Maybe they didn't even feel the collision because the ship was too big.)

Three fishermen, including the captain of FB Dearyn, died after the ramming incident which happened before dawn.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said that no other vessel went near FB Dearyn at that time other than MV Pacific Anna, an oil tanker registered in the Marshall Islands.

A  survivor in one of the small boats of FB Dearyn said he saw a commercial vessel colored blue and red sailing from the area of the incident.

In the documents released by BFAR Region 3, FB Dearyn has been registered as a valid and licensed commercial vessel since April. It had complete safety gear with proper light signals to alert approaching vessels in the dark.

Khonghun said the local government unit of Subic would assist on the survivors' call for justice.

“May tatlong nasawi eh, at saka binangga nila. Right or wrong, talagang kasalanan nila. May binangga sila,” Khonghun said.

(There were three fatalities and they were rammed. It was their fault. They rammed into the boat.)

The LGU has also promised to try recovering the sunken FB Dearyn to be restored for the use of the surviving fishermen, and to support the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development has provided financial assistance and relief goods to the survivors and the victims’ families.

BFAR representatives are set to visit the wake of the victims on Thursday to deliver additional financial aid.

The deceased victims will be buried together on Sunday. 

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said its investigation on the incident has led to the identification of oil tanker M/V Pacific Anna as the possible vessel that crashed into FB Dearyn.

According to PCG, M/V Pacific Anna was the only vessel to have passed the area of the incident on October 2.

“Kung ano ang pinakaproximate na barko na nandoon sa lugar na ‘yun. Ang tawag natin dun ay vessel of interest. No finality ‘yun kung sinadya ba ‘yun,” said PCG Commandant Vice Admiral Artemio Abu.

PCG also stated that the oil tanker’s navigators or radar operator should have seen the fishermen as FB Dearyn had an active Automatic Identification System and appeared on monitoring devices.

The appropriate authorities on Singapore, M/V Pacific Anna’s next destination port, and Marshall Islands where the ship is registered, have already been notified of the incident and ongoing investigations.

Despite the incident, PCG encouraged Filipino fishermen not to fear fishing in the waters at Bajo de Masinloc.

“That is their livelihood. We cannot do away with it. We are encouraging our fishermen, [and] we are giving them the assurance their Coast Guard, their government will always be there,” Abu said.—NB, GMA Integrated News