Cebuano seaman confirmed missing in Dutch sea collision

CEBU CITY, Philippines – It’s his birthday today, Tuesday, October 8.

It’s also today that Cebuano seaman Captain Dennis Sabang, 56, was confirmed to be among those missing in a sea collision off the coast of Netherlands and Denmark.

Sabang’s relatives, in their hometown of Carmen in northern Cebu, received a call from his agency on Tuesday afternoon. They were informed that he was missing along with another Filipino and an Indonesian member of the crew.

Sabang was reportedly the last to jump off M/V Maria after it collided with a shipping trawler 40 kilometers off the coast of Den Helder, Netherlands.

The ill-fated ship was guarding an oil drilling platform.

His family recalled tha he gave instructions for them not to text or call him on his birthday because he would be out at sea.

He asked them to send their greeting through Facebook. It was their last contact with the missing captain.

“We hope for your safety. We’re all exited and waiting for your return, Dad,” said Madine, one of the Sabang’s children.

Madine said his father was scheduled to return home before the year ends.

“It was so sudden. I never expected that it would happen, especially because today is his birthday. My only wish is for him to return,” said Marichu, the captain’s wife.

Search called off

Dutch coastguards were to decide Tuesday if they would continue with the search for the missing sailors. They called off the search late Monday due to increased currents

Fishermen aboard the trawler Texel 68 said they had seen all 5 of the Maria’s crew on the bridge wearing life jackets immediately after the collision.

“Two crew members were rescued but the other three are still missing,” coastguard spokesman Peter Westenberg told Agence France-Presse earlier Monday, adding that they could be trapped inside the boat.

The sailors could survive several hours in the North Sea waters, which are still relatively warm at this time of year at around 16 degrees.

Westenberg said the cause of the crash was “a mystery”.

The most serious recent incident off the busy Dutch coast happened in December, when a cargo ship collided with the car-carrier Baltic Ace off the port of Rotterdam, killing 11 sailors. – with a report from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com