A local court stopped all 20 crewmen of a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship from leaving the country pending an investigation into the ship’s collision with a fishing vessel that left 14 mostly Filipino fishermen missing to this day. Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo said on Wednesday that presiding judge Ulysses Delgado of Branch 44 of the Regional Trial Court in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, granted their petition for a precautionary hold departure order (HDO) against the Chinese crewmen. Covered by the order were all respondents to the case, including ship captain Zhang Wei Wei, chief officer Yang Xifeng, second officer Yi Lie, third officer Shi Bin and ship officers Fan Qoujin, Xia Zhen and Wang Xingtu.

Yee, J. (2020, July 16). HDO for HK vessel crew in boat collision. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A5.