Coast Guard personnel recovered four more bodies near the sunken M/B Maejan, bringing to 27 the total number of fatalities from the ship tragedy, a Coast Guard spokesman said Tuesday.

According to PCG spokesman Lt. Gary Dale Gimotea, four more bodies --three girls and a boy -- were retrieved from the sunken vessel. He said authorities have yet to identify the bodies.

He said that a number of the fatalities have been brought to different parts of the province.

"Sixteen fatalities were brought to Ballesteros, four were brought to Tuguegarao, two at Claveria," he said in an interview on ANC's "News at 8."

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, Gimotea said there are 45 survivors, while 28 people are yet to be found. Relatives of the fatalities, Gimotea said, have already been informed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Monday.

"Yesterday they were with PNP and I think they're making the appropriate action on informing the families of the victims," he said.

M/B Maejan departed Calayan Island Sunday morning. However, the motor banca failed to reach the port of Aparri after it tipped over due to strong currents. It was reportedly dragged by big waves and capsized around 50 meters from the shoreline of Barangay Pallok at Ballesteros town in Cagayan.

Aside from the rough seas, Gimotea said that the M/B Maejan may have capsized since it carried around 100 people, twice its capacity of 50, which include 40 passengers and 10 crew members.

Since there is no PCG station in Calayan Island, Gimotea said it was the responsibility of the vessel's operator and captain to make sure that the boat was not overloaded.

"Under the Marina circulars, there should be a mandatory display of maximum authorized passenger capacity...the captain should've declared that only 40 passengers should be boarded on that vessel, but it seems that he neglected that Marina circular," he said.

Search operations were cancelled Monday because of the weather. According to Gimotea, rescue teams from PCG, the Philippine Air Force, Philippine Navy, PNP, and local government units are utilizing all available assets in the locality to resume Tuesday.

"The weather is the same as yesterday. There are still rough seas, but the operation will continue," he said.