The coast guard was searching Sunday for a domestic cargo ship with 17 crewmen that disappeared after encountering big waves and reporting engine trouble. Crewmen aboard the 498-ton SF Freighter radioed the ship's owner, Seaford Shipping, Saturday to report the problems but shortly after all contact was lost, coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said. “It was said that the vessel encountered engine trouble after being battered by big waves off Dos Hermanas Island in Marinduque. Then It lost radio contact,” Tamayo said on dzBB radio The owner launched an initial search near the ship's last known location off the coast of Marinduque province and contacted the coast guard, Tamayo said. A coast guard plane spotted a lone ship Sunday in waters off Marinduque, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Manila, but bad weather forced the plane to turn back before it could make an identification, he said. Another attempt would be made when the weather clears. Passing ships and coastal communities have been told to be on the look out for the steel-hulled ship, which was en route to Manila from central Cebu province carrying a cargo of steel bars when it went missing. Meanwhile, Tamayo said the coast guard has “rescued” 18 crew members from a distressed Chinese vessel. Citing initial reports reaching him, he said the vessel sent a distress call after encountering big waves en route from China to Indonesia. He said the vessel was to be towed to Batangas and was expected to arrive port at 5 P.M. Gusty wind and waves also pulled up the anchor of a cargo barge in Manila Bay late Saturday, causing the wayward vessel to ram and damage five unoccupied huts and eight fishing boats in a coastal village in suburban Navotas City, Tamayo said. No injuries were reported. A tropical depression, which has enhanced monsoon rains and winds in northern and central regions, moved away from the country Sunday. Ships have been warned to expect rough seas. Tropical depression “Ester,” which brought the bad weather, picked up speed as it moves toward Japan's southern islands, state weather forecasters said as of 10:30 A.M. Sunday. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Ester was last spotted at 340 kilometers northeast of Basco, Batanes, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center. Moving north-northeast at 17 kilometers per hour Sunday morning, Ester was expected to be 680 kilometers north-northeast of Basco, Batanes or at 90 kilometers southwest of Okinawa, Japan, Sunday afternoon. Storm Warning Signal No. 1 was raised over the Batanes group of islands, Babuyan Island and the Calayan Islands.
