Coast Guard personnel evacuated 85 passengers of a Cokaliong Shipping Lines vessel that ran aground off Ozamiz City on Thursday evening, April 20, 2023. (Photo courtesy of PCG Lt. Senior Grade Carlos Q. Bayeta)
ILIGAN CITY — A passenger vessel ran aground in waters off Misamis Occidental province on Thursday evening, coast guard authorities said.
Lieutenant Senior Grade Carlos Bayeta, coast guard station commander in Ozamiz City, said MV Filipinas Cebu of Cokaliong Shipping Lines, Inc., was stuck in Loculan Shoal, some 1.5 nautical miles east of the coastal village of San Antonio in Ozamiz City at around 6 p.m.
The passenger vessel came from Iligan City en route to Ozamiz to load passengers and cargo before proceeding to Cebu City.
With a tugboat from MTug Foscon Diamond, a coast guard team evacuated the boat’s 85 passengers, including an infant, to the Ozamiz port, Bayeta said.
Bayeta added that the Ozamiz City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office and the Philippine Ports Authority provided meals and medical assistance to the passengers.
According to Bayeta, the passengers were refunded their fare and were transferred to another vessel bound for Cebu City.
He said they are still investigating the incident thoroughly while the vessel is still at the shoal.
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