The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said they have began conducting rescue operations on a passenger ship carrying 825 passengers that ran aground some 500 yards off the pier of Tagbilaran, Bohol on Friday morning.
PCG spokesman Lieutenant Armand Balilo reported that the 3,786 gross tonnage M/V Dipolog Princess, owned by Sulpicio Lines, hit a shallow area of the Tagbilaran Channel, which was near the Port of Tagbilaran en route to Zamboanga del Norte.
The Cebu-based shipping company is also planning to field its ship M/V Cagayan Princess to fetch the passengers from the port and bring them to their destination in Zamboanga del Norte. It also sent a tugboat but it failed to pull the vessel.
As of noontime yesterday, Balilo said, “I have just talked to our Coast Guard in Tagbilaran and I was informed that some 300 passengers have already been brought to the Port of Tagbilaran. A tug boat transferred them from the ship to the port.”
The ship, which was leaning some three degrees at her starboard side, was still spotted at the Tagbilaran Channel as of 10 a.m. yesterday.
There were no reports of injured or missing passengers. Balilo also denied speculations that the ship was overloaded explaining that said vessel could accommodate about 2,000 passengers.
With only three days before Christmas, the PCG has intensified it’s monitoring of passenger and cargo ships. “Our PCG Vice Admiral Danilo Abinoja has already issued a directive to all our district offices to monitor the deployment of the vessels to ensure there are no excess of passengers. We are also appealing to the public not to insist boarding a vessel when it has reached its full passenger capacity.”