Philippine Coast Guard Conducts MOB Search for Missing Boxship Captain

The Philippine Coast Guard has been conducting a search over the past few days for the missing captain of a containership. The vessel was transiting the central Philippines when according to the Coast Guard the crew “noticed their captain was missing.”

Based on the CCTV footage on board the containership Cape Bonavista (24,754 dwt), the captain was last seen at around 10:46 p.m. local time on July 6. The vessel registered in the Marshall Islands departed the southern Philippine port of Davao City and was sailing to China. The vessel built in 2023 has a capacity of 1930 TEU. It is managed from Cyprus by Columbia Shipmanagement and operated under charter to CMA CGM on a route shuttling between China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

The Coast Guard dispatched its vessel BRP Malapascua starting on July 7 to conduct a search and rescue operation for the missing captain in the vicinity waters of Lubang Island, south of Manila. The vessel has been using its thermal scanner camera which is part of its Remote-Controlled Weapon System and established a parallel search pattern in the vicinity. It is also coordinating with the Philippine Navy.

 

 

The master is only described as a Ukrainian citizen. The Coast Guard reports that it had no results. After replenishing provisions and refueling the patrol boat resumed the search checking the waters and area around Lubang Island.

The containership after remaining in the local area proceeded to the Chinese port of Shekou where it arrived this morning local time.