Three foreign nationals were rescued by the personnel of Coast Guard Station El Nido and the Philippine Navy immediately after receiving a distress alert from a motor yacht that went dead on water 35NM southwest off Malampaya gas field, Palawan.
According to Coast Guard Action Center, the United Kingdom registered M/Y Simone sent a distress alert to the Coast Guard after an unexpected fuel exhaustion caused by a generator problem.
Immediately upon receiving the alert, Coast Guard District Palawan (CGDPAL) established a communication with M/Y Simone and was informed that all crew are in good physical condition and are only seeking for assistance for refueling to the nearest shore.
The crew were identified as Ian Riley, British national; Glenn Cooke, 51 years old and Australian national; and Ryan Mann, 36 years old and an American citizen.
CGDPAL directed Coast Guard Station (CGS) El Nido to provide assistance to the distressed yacht. Through coordination with Joint Task Force Malampaya (JTFM), a Philippine Navy patrol gunboat, Coast Guard Special Operations Group (CGSOG) and Coast Guard K-9 personnel onboard PG-386 joined the search and rescue team.
The team guided the yacht to El Nido Pier where it refueled and provided statement for the investigation.
According to the crew, they were on their way to Kota Kinabalu when the yacht encountered generator problem due to a damaged pump belt. The derangement, which resulted to rapid exhaustion of fuel, coupled with prevailing bad weather condition prompted the crew to send a distress alert signal.
[mappress] Press Release, June 18, 2013