Residents of barangay Calajoan in Minglanilla town enjoy the breeze and sight of big waves caused by typhoon Ompong. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
No sea trips were cancelled by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Central Visayas but some shipping operators thought the seas were so rough that they voluntarily cancelled their trips from Central Visayas ports.
As of 12 noon yesterday, PCG recorded 13 cancelled sea vessel voyages and five motorbancas within Central Visayas.
Typhoon Ompong (international name Vongfong) is expected to leave Philippine territory by Saturday evening and head to Japan.
It is still lumbering at 13 kilometers per hour in the seas north of Luzon, packing 195 kilometers per hour (kph) winds and gusts of 230 kph.
Cebu is experiencing cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorm brought by typhoon Ompong.
The bad weather in Cebu is mainly caused by an intertropical convergence zone which happens when northeast and southeast trade winds come together near the equator.
This produces thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
Commander Weniel Azcuna, chief of staff for PCG in Central Visayas, said that the number of stranded passengers reached 1,088.
“Although there is no mandatory cancellation of trips, on a case to case basis, when the weather condition is bad then trips may be canceled or delayed,” Azcuna said.
The PCG only orders cancellation of sea voyages if there is a public storm signal warning.
NO GALE WARNING
Yesterday, Pagasa issued a gale warning in Eastern Visayas and North East Luzon due to typhoon Ompong.
Leonardo Samar, weather observer from Pagasa-Mactan said that Central Visayas was not covered in the gale warning advisory.
Gale warning no. 13 issued in Eastern Visayas and North East Luzon is characterized by 52-68 kph of wind, rough waves with 3.4 to 5 meters of wave height.
“Small sea crafts are advised not to sail if there is a gale warning and for big vessels, they are advised to stay alert,” Samar added.