Manila, Rabi'I 11, 1436, Jan 2, 2015, SPA -- A cargo vessel sank in rough seas in the Philippines, leaving one crew member dead, the coast guard said Friday, according to dpa. Nineteen other crew members of the MV Sea Merchant were rescued off the town of Lobo in Batangas province, 106 kilometres south of Manila. The vessel was travelling to the central province of Antique with 20,000 bags of cement when it was battered by huge waves on Thursday and sank, a coast guard report said. The coast guard said the lone fatality, the chief engineer, appeared to have hit his head while jumping off the vessel. The weather bureau has warned of rough seas throughout the archipelago due to strong winds from the northeast. Last week, a tropical storm battered the Philippines with strong rains and heavy winds, killing at least 59 people and displacing more than 80,000. --SPA 11:25 LOCAL TIME 08:25 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w