A PASSENGER vessel bound for Danao City from Isabel town in Leyte almost sank off the coast of San Francisco in Camotes Island after it encountered engine trouble on Saturday afternoon, January 19.
Luckily, all of its 126 passengers, crew and cargo of the M/V Melrivic 2 were rescued by personnel from the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard after being stranded for at least two hours.
Lt. Commander Danish Ruiz, acting commanding officer of the BRP Alfredo Peckson of the Philippine Navy, told SunStar Cebu they were able to respond to the conked out ship after finding them in their radar at around 11:30 a.m.
They eventually found the boat floating around 4.2 nautical miles from San Franscisco in Camotes Island around 12 noon.
Ruiz recalled that when they arrived at the site, they found the crew, armed with buckets and pails, removing the seawater already filing the vessel.
"Medyo tagilid na slight nang konti yung barko. So we decided to get the passengers as soon as possible," Ruiz told SunStar Cebu.
Some of the passengers were starting to panic as well, he added.
Aside from the passengers, there were 14 large vehicles and two motorcycles onboard the vessel.
Once all the passengers were safely placed in their vessel, Ruiz said they immediately brought them to the Naval Forces Central (Navforcen) headquarters in Naval Base Rafael Ramos in Lapu-Lapu City. (JKV)