The Philippine Coast Guard and the crew of a Good Samaritan vessel successfully rescued all occupants of a ferry that had run aground off the Philippines' Occidental Mindoro province on Sunday, April 5.
The Ro-Pax ferry Our Lady of Fatima 03 had earlier departed Occidental Mindoro's Tilik Port and was en route to Nasugbu in Batangas province when she became stranded approximately 670 metres off the coast shortly after 07:45 local time on Sunday.
Weather and sea conditions at the time of the incident were reported to be between calm and moderate.
The vessel had no cargo and was carrying 162 passengers in addition to eight crewmembers, which the coast guard said is well within her authorised capacity. Her onboard tanks meanwhile contained 250 litres of diesel fuel and 45 litres of lube oil.
The stranded passengers were eventually transferred to the ferry Princess Christine II, which had arrived in the area to render assistance. All were eventually offloaded at Tilik by 09:20.
The coast guard confirmed that there were no injuries or oil spills resulting from the grounding. The ferry's captain has meanwhile been advised to file a marine protest, while the crew will conduct an underwater inspection to check for any sign of structural damage.
