A Tomini Shipping crew has rescued 11 Malaysians who had been adrift in a capsized boat for three days.
The United Arab Emirates owner said the 64,000-dwt bulker Tomini Dynasty (built 2018) spotted the four men, four women and three children in distress on 31 March.
The survivors told the crew they were from Tawau in Malaysia and were on their way to Semporna to attend a funeral.
They encountered bad weather and the boat turned over and filled with water, damaging the engine. The boat had drifted into Philippines waters.
The group had been helpless at sea since 29 March.
Tomini reported that all the survivors were healthy and had been provided with food, accommodation and medical assistance as required.
“The Tomini Dynasty is in contact with the local MRCC [maritime rescue coordination centre],” the company told TradeWinds.
Tomini praised the courage of its “great seafarers”, who put others before themselves.
The small craft was first spotted by the duty able seaman three nautical miles ahead of the bulker.
The ship altered course by 10 degrees to starboard.
Bailing out
Fifteen minutes later, the people on board were spotted waving to the bigger vessel while wearing lifejackets and trying to bail water out of their boat.
The stern was seen to be completely submerged.
A rescue craft was sent out from the Tomini Shipping cargoship. One survivor was reported to be elderly and exhausted, Tomini captain Om Dutta said in his time sheet of the operation.
When all 11 people had been brought on board, the bulker launched an operation to salvage their boat too.
This was done using the bulker’s crane.
The Philippines Coast Guard later boarded the Tomini ship to verify the identities of the rescued Malaysians, who were then transferred to the coast guard vessel while the bulker continued to China.
