Passengers rescued after vessel runs aground in Occidental Mindoro

CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro — A passenger ship ran aground after midnight on Thursday near Sitio Sigman in Barangay Udalo, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, local disaster management officials said.

The shipping company of the distressed vessel Roromaster 5 had initially reported that the grounded ship was carrying 80 passengers and 24 rolling cargo units from Batangas Port, said Geoffrey Panganiban, chief of the Abra de Ilog Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO). 

Personnel from the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, Municipal Health Office, and Philippine National Police were deployed to assist the MDRRMO and Philippine Coast Guard teams that first responded to the incident.

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By 7 a.m., the town’s Help and Welfare Desk had recorded 117 passengers and crew members who disembarked from the vessel and received basic assistance, including medical checkups, food, water, and transportation.

Passengers bound for Sablayan and San Jose are temporarily staying at the Abra de Ilog Passengers Terminal, officials said.

Passengers who were traveling to Abra de Ilog and the town of Mamburao have already been transported to their intended destinations with assistance from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the Abra de Ilog MDRRMO. They provided transport from Sitio Sigman to the Abra de Ilog Pier.

Authorities urged the public to remain calm and steer clear of the grounded vessel to avoid disrupting rescue and response operations.

Residents and travelers were also advised to rely only on official updates from the Abra de Ilog MDRRMO, the municipal government, and the Philippine Coast Guard regarding the incident and succeeding response operations./coa