Three crew members of a Philippine fishing boat died when a foreign commercial vessel which was transiting the waters off Bajo de Masinloc rammed it, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Wednesday.

The collision took place at 4:20 am Monday while the mother boat of fishing vessel Dearyn was moored for fishing 85 nautical miles northwest of Bajo de Masinloc.

”Due to adverse weather conditions causing darkness, the crew on board the mother boat (Dearyn) failed to detect an unidentified vessel approaching, resulting in a collision that caused the mother boat to capsize,” a OCG report said.

The PCG said the boat sank, with its captain and two others being the fatalities.

The fatalities were identified as  Dexter Laudensia, the captain, 40; Benedick Uladandria; 62 and Romeo Mejico, 38. They were declared dead by Infanta municipal health officer Marjorie Piga.

The 11 survivors used their eight service boats to reach Infanta, Pangasinan along with the three dead to report the incident to the nearest Coast Guard sub-station.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he is” deeply saddened” over the incident and assured that PCG is investigating the matter. DMS