Yacht missing in Typhoon Milenyo

by Jeamma Sabate, Jeffrey Damicog on 30 Sep 2006 The death toll from typhoon “Milenyo” that cut across the Philippines yesterday rose yesterday to at least 71 with dozens of people missing in floods and landslides.

The Philippine Coast guard (PCG) reported a yacht with seven crew members was missing in Manila Bay while heading to the Manila Yacht Club from a nearby port. The yacht, Tristar was reported missing while it was en route from Baseco to the Manila Yacht Club.

The yacht encountered rough seas and strong winds at 1 p.m. Thursday. The PCG identified the missing crew members as Captain Francis Dimayacyac, Mario Azul, Marlon Hapitat, Melody de San Jose, Ludi Gallardo and Nelo Ceno. Search-and-rescue operations are going on.

A crew member of another boat in Batangas was reported missing when it sank during the typhoon.

The PCG also reported that a wooden vessel sank off Baclaran (Parañaque) reclamation area.

Reports reaching the PCG Headquarters based in Manila showed that M/Y Limahong with 288 gross tons (GT), a newly acquired wooden hull vessel from Okayama, Japan, arrived in Manila for rehabilitation. It was intended as a floating restaurant in Batangas. It, however, sank. The PCG rescued the crew at 7:45 p.m. Thursday. They were taken to the PCG National Capital Region-Central Luzon station.

The typhoon was briefly downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved toward the South China Sea heading to Vietnam, but gained strength again yesterday, packing winds of 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph (93 mph), the Philippine weather bureau reported.

Milenyo, the Laotian word for elephant, is the 10th typhoon this season, and the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years.

Milenyo is now out of the country and is currently over the South China Sea, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

Chinese state media said yesterday the typhoon was likely to skirt Hainan, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the island during the first few days of a weeklong national holiday.