The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) safely evacuated passengers and crew after a roll-on/roll-off passenger vessel ran aground near the shoreline of Barangay Udalo in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, early yesterday.
The 779-gross-ton MV RoRo Master 5 was en route from the Port of Batangas to the Port of Abra de Ilog when it ran aground about 30 meters from shore at around 12:45 a.m., according to PCG Spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab.
Coast Guard personnel promptly boarded the vessel and assisted those onboard in leaving the grounded ship. Four life rafts and a lifeline secured to the shoreline were used during the evacuation.
By 6 a.m., all passengers had been transported to the Port of Abra de Ilog with assistance from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and Orange Navigation Inc.
An initial assessment found a rocky seabed in the area. The PCG said no marine protected area was identified near the incident site, while no oil spill or water ingress into the vessel was observed.
The initial investigation also pointed to a gyrocompass failure as a possible cause of the incident. The malfunction reportedly caused the vessel to deviate from its intended course before running aground.
The PCG said it was still verifying the exact number of passengers, crew members and rolling cargo aboard the vessel and would release official figures after the verification and investigation are completed.
Meanwhile, Orange Navigation Inc. said a tugboat from Cedar Company had been requested to help refloat the vessel.
The Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog also coordinated with the PCG Command Center for additional assets, while the Coast Guard Station Batangas deployed floating assets to support the ongoing operation.