Philippine ferry suffers second grounding incident in less than a year
TUG AND SALVAGE WEEK
The Philippine Coast Guard and various local partners successfully rescued all 85 passengers from a Ro-Pax ferry after it ran aground off the southern Philippine province of Lanao del Norte on Thursday, April 20.
The 2,726GT Filipinas Cebu, operated by local company Cokaliong Shipping Lines, became stranded at Maigo Point off Lanao del Norte at around 18:00 local time on Thursday as it was en route to Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental province.
The coast guard and a civilian tug deployed to the area to render assistance.
All of the passengers were later brought aboard the tug and transported to shore. No injuries have been reported.
The coast guard said there were no signs of pollution near the grounded ferry, though containment booms have been placed in the area as a precautionary measure.
The incident is the second vessel grounding involving Filipinas Cebu following an earlier incident on August 9, 2022. On the said date, the ferry became stranded in the waters off Iloilo province with over 200 embarked passengers while sailing towards Cebu.
An investigation revealed that the helmsman fell asleep while the ferry was underway off Iloilo, resulting in the earlier grounding.
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