Search for US marine up

US Navy personnel on the lookout for a marine feared to have gone overboard off the Sulu Sea. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

A US marine was feared to have gone overboard, touching off a massive search and rescue operation by US Navy and Philipine Navy and Coast Guard vessels yesterday off Sulu Sea and Surigao Strait.

“We remain committed to searching for and finding our marine,” said a statement from the US military quoting the marine unit’s commander, Colonel Chandler Nelms.

Aircraft on board the USS Essex conducted multiple searches while marines swept the inside of the ship itself, the unit said on its social media sites late Friday.

“All of our sailors, marines and available assets aboard the USS Essex have been and will continue to be involved in this incredibly important search and rescue operation,” added the search commander, US Navy Captain Gerald Olin.

Philippine assets also took part in what was an expanded search covering about 3,000 square nautical miles (10,290 square kilometers), it added.

Sulu Sea, the Philippines’ largest inland waterway, sprawls over the central and southern sections of the Asian archipelago, a US military ally.

Surigao Strait is at least 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, off the country’s eastern seaboard.

The statement did not explain why the two separate locations were being searched.

The US marine was reported to have gone overboard at 9:40 p.m. last Thursday. With AFP