RoRo vessel tilts; passengers safe

The Philippine Coast Guard on Monday reported that the over 400 Cebu-bound passengers were brought back to safety after the vessel they were boarding tilted to its side while traversing off the coast of Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.

With the development, the passenger ship safety certificate of the Cokaliong Shipping-owned MV Filipinas CDO was suspended by the Maritime Industry Authority, following its listing last Sunday.

Initial reports disclosed that the RoRo vessel listed 30 degrees while traversing the vicinity waters off Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental at around 8:05 p.m. on 12 November 2023.

The vessel's listing — a nautical term to describe when a vessel takes on water and tilts to one side — was attributed to the strong winds it encountered caused by bad weather.

"The suspension of PSSC of MV Filipinas CDO shall remain effective and may be restored/reinstated after a satisfactory result of Marina survey inspection and/or evaluation of all available data surrounding the incident," according to the letter of Annabell Lagas, Marina regional director of Regional Office 10, addressed to Chester Cokaliong, president of Cokaliong Shipping Lines Inc.

The Coast Guard Station Cagayan de Oro reported that MV Filipinas CDO returned and safely arrived at the CDO Port around 11:20 p.m.

"They assisted in the disembarkation of 448 passengers (all in good physical condition) and four rolling cargoes on board," the PCG said.

Meantime, PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said that PCG commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan instructed the Maritime Safety Services Command to investigate and check the safety procedures and protocols implemented by the shipping company and its crew.

"This is to assure the public that we value the safety of the passengers and as much as possible incidents like this are prevented, especially now that the Christmas season is approaching where maritime traffic is increasing," Balilo said.

The vessel was on its way to Cebu from Macabalan Wharf in Cagayan de Oro City and initial reports said that the ship's ballast tank malfunctioned.

"They tried to rectify but unfortunately, the ballast tank is the main problem so they decided to go back to CDO," said PCG-Central Visayas spokesperson commander Mark Larsen Mariano.

One of the passengers, Steffany Buron, narrated during a radio interview here that while the ship was still docked at the port, she already noticed that it was tilting to its side, adding that some of the equipment was falling and they heard a loud bang under the ship while they were sailing.