Three Vietnamese jets joined the search for 16 missing Filipino crew members of an ill-fated cargo ship which sank off the coast of Vietnam, authorities said Sunday.

The planes will augment a fleet of Vietnamese Coast Guard and Navy vessels searching the last known location of Bulk Jupiter which sent its last distress signal while 155 nautical miles from the southern Vietnam town of Vung Tau on Friday, said Lt. Gen. Pham Hoai Giang, director of the Vietnam Defense Ministry's Department for Rescue Search 

Like Us on Facebook

The 16 missing are part of a 19-man, all-Filipino crew of the Bahamian-registered ship laden with iron ore bound for China. One crew member, chief cook Angelito Capindo Rojas, was rescued by a tugboat while two bodies, believed to be that of captain Ronel Acueza Andrin and his assistant Dinoy Jerome Maquilang, were recovered by passing commercial ships on Sunday afternoon.

Charles Jose, spokesman of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said vessels from China, Liberia, Oman, and Singapore are cooperating with the rescue operations being led by Vietnamese authorities.

"The (Philippine) embassy (in Hanoi) is coordinating with the Vietnam Maritime Research and Rescue Coordinating Center (MRCC) and the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, which is approximately 96 kms from Vung Tau City, in gathering updates and making arrangements for the repatriation of the rescued seafarer and the retrieved remains," added Jose.

The vessel is owned by the Norwegian firm Gearbulk and was reportedly transporting 46,000 tons of the iron ore bauxite from Malaysia to China at the time of the mishap. The Filipino seafarers are managed by the Magsaysay Maritime Corporation based in Manila.

The cause of the sinking is still undetermined but experts are pointing to a particularly hazardous aspect of transporting iron ore called bulk cargo liquefaction. The phenomenon, related to the loss of vessel stability due to the moisture content of the cargo, is credited with the sinking of three bulk carriers in 40 days resulting in 40 deaths in 2010, according to the maritime publication Standard Cargo.

Tagsbulk jupiter, Vietnam, pham hoai giang, charles jose, gearbulk, liquefaction, filipinos, cargo ship