Passenger vessel runs aground in Coron

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — A passenger vessel found itself stranded barely a nautical mile from the Coron Port on Saturday afternoon as reported by distressed passengers who were aboard the vessel.

The vessel — identified as St. Francis Xavier which was ferrying nearly 1,400 passengers to this city — reportedly encountered a generator malfunction shortly after departure, leading to an unexpected halt.

Passenger Bert Jeric Ma Zeta, traveling with his family, said the vessel dropped anchor just after leaving the pier around 3 p.m. on 8 June and eventually got stuck in a reef.

He added that the crew had told them that there is going to be a repair that would only take around 30 minutes to one hour, but as minutes turned into hours without further information, passenger frustration grew.

Zeta recounted a night aboard the stranded vessel, marked by heat that affected all passengers, especially children and the elderly. As the temperature inside the ship increased, these groups suffered, grappling with conditions that made rest nearly impossible.

The heat forced many passengers to seek relief by sleeping on the sundeck with the ship’s foam pads, a respite cut short by rain, driving them back inside into stifling conditions.

“It seems the crew was not fully prepared to address our needs, especially the vulnerable like children and the elderly,” Zeta added.

Passengers were initially provided with dinner but faced Sunday morning without any breakfast provisions. This oversight was only rectified after passengers voiced their discontent to the crew.

Another passenger, Ernie Caballas, commented on the provisioning efforts, saying a small boat brought them bread but it was hardly enough for the people on board.

The problems went beyond mere discomfort, as Caballas called on the vessel management to review and improve their emergency response protocols.