CEBU CITY, Philippines – A roll on-roll off (roro) sea vessel bound to Santa Fe town in Bantayan Island suffered an engine malfunction shortly before it docked the town’s pier on early Sunday morning, January 26.
The Santa Fe Substation of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG – Santa Fe) said the roro, carrying 138 passengers, two ten-wheeler trucks, and two six-wheeler cargo trucks, arrived safely.
First Seaman Jayson Depadua from PCG – Santa Fe said their station received an alert of an engine malfunction from the roro’s captain at 3:14 a.m.
He said the distressed sea vessel was only two nautical miles from the Santa Fe Port at the time when their station received the call.
Depadua also said the roro was only able to dock in Santa Fe Port at 6:16 a.m., which is approximately four hours later than scheduled.
“Everyone arrived safely. It’s just that their arrival was late,” Depadua told CDN Digital in a phone interview.
The PCG officer said authorities found out that one of the valves that led to the sea vessel’s steering gear was loose, which resulted to one of its engine to shut down.
“With only one engine functioning, the vessel’s movement was really slow. That’s why it took them longer than usual to dock. If you’re on board a vessel with only one functioning engine, you cannot feel it moving because it’s really slow,” said Depadua in Tagalog.
He added that PCG has ordered the captain of the vessel to replace the loose valve, conduct a sea trial, and submit a satisfactory report before it could operate again.
Depadua said the vessel was still docked in Santa Fe Port as of 1:25 p.m. Sunday, January 26. /dbs