One person was confirmed dead while 12 others are missing after a cargo vessel sank in the sea off the province of Romblon.

Lieutenant Commander Armando Balilo, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Public Information Officer and deputy chief of staff for community relations, confirmed that M/V SF Freighter, a 498-gross ton cargo vessel that was carrying an unidentified amount of steel bars, sank near Hermanas Island early morning of Saturday.

Balilo said that the search and rescue team found it difficult to locate the wreckage site of the ill-fated vessel due to poor visibility in the area.

“The Coast Guard-251 Islander Plane manned by Lieutenant Junior-Grade (Reimond) Santos failed to locate the wreckage site until early morning today (Monday) due to zero visibility in the area.

Fortunately, okay yung panahon ngayon kaya nang lumipad ulit sila, they already located the area,” Balilo said.

Based on the data released by the Coast Guard Action Center (CGAC) in Manila, the M/V SF Freighter skippered by Capt. Jolito Cortejos left the Port of Manila around evening of Friday and was scheduled to deliver the steel bars in Cebu City.

According to the statement of Cortejos, one of the three crew members who were rescued by fisherman off General Luna in Quezon, their cargo vessel was hammered by rough seas and strong winds around 11 p.m. of Friday when they were 11 nautical miles from Simara Island in Romblon.

The ship captain and Jerry Cortez, crew member, were rescued in General Luna, Quezon. Cortez wasn’t in the initial list of passenger manifest.

Crewmember Joseph Jabonite Jr., assistant engineer, was also rescued alive in nearby Catanauan town in Quezon.