While the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has yet to categorically say that it was a Marshall Islands-registered crude oil tanker that hit a Filipino fishing boat off Pangasinan early this month, it has started tracking its location in real time as the Senate investigation of the maritime accident continues. On Thursday, Vice Adm. Joseph Coyme, commander of the PCG’s maritime safety services command, told senators that MT Pacific Anna, a 110,000-ton, 250-meter tanker owned by shipping firm Sinokor, was the “highly probable vessel of interest” after its course was plotted to be the ship nearest to FB Dearyn at the time of the collision early morning on Oct. 2. The accident, which killed three Filipino fishermen, happened in the West Philippine Sea, about 190 nautical miles (about 350 kilometers) off Agno town in Pangasinan, the PCG said.

Gascon, M. (2023, October 13). PCG on the track of oil tanker in boat ramming. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A6.