A Cebu-based vessel caught fire in Ormoc city port, destroying several vehicles and cargo on board at 4:30 a.m. yesterday.
All 544 passengers of the MV Wonderful Stars safely got off the roll-on-roll-off vessel, said Jose Emery Roble, chief executive officer of Roble Shipping Lines.
“The fire allegedly started in the cargo area but we still have to wait for an investigation to determine what caused it,” said Roble.
Black smoke was seen coming out of the cargo hold, possibly due to burning tires of some vehicles.
At the time the fire broke out, cargo and vehicles were being unloaded, said Roble. The ship arrived in Ormoc at 3:50 a.m.
“Some vehicles could not be unloaded because the ship captain instructed the crew to immediately pull out,” he said in a press conference in the shipping line’s main office in Pier 4, Cebu City.
The vessel’s cargo area contained 23 vehicles – 17 private vehicles and six cargo trucks along with loose cargo, mostly vegetables from Cebu. Only five vehicles were unloaded.
The incident happened more than a month after 61 persons were killed when the motorbanca MB Kim Nirvana-B sank about 200 meters from the pier in Ormoc city last July 2.
Three of the 60 crew members of the MV Wonderful Stars suffered minor burns while trying to put out the fire yesterday.
The injured crew Daryll Bentoy, Jake Randell Guinocor and John Nelson Daug were treated at a hospital in Ormoc and were later discharged.
Six passengers in the VIP section climbed out a window because of the thick smoke. The area couldn’t be reached by rescuers.
Commander William Isaga, District Commander of the Philippine Coast Guard District Eastern Visayas said the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) still has to investigate and find out what caused the fire.
The vessel left Cebu City at 10:30 p.m. last Friday and arrived at the Ormoc port at 3:20 a.m.
The fire was put out at 2 p.m. yesterday.
Skipper Rodolfo Saavedra, 50, said a crew member sounded the alarm at past 4 a.m.
Saavedra said he went to check the cargo area but was met with thick smoke. On returning to the pilot house, he called up management and got orders to secure the passengers.
Saavedra said he instructed his 59 crew members to assist the passengers in disembarking.
Saavedra said owners of the cargo destroyed in the fire would be reimbursed as long as these were properly declared.
Robles Shipping Lines operations manager Teodoro Franco Omega, said two tug boats would be sent to Ormoc City to tow the vessel to Cebu, where it would be sold as scrap.
He said this was the first major incident involving the shipping firm since it started operating in the 1980s.
Eight fire trucks from Ormoc and four from the neighboring towns of Baybay, Kananga, Albuera and Merida responded to help put out the blaze that was worsened by the fuel in the vehicles on board.
Businesswoman Marithez Mahusay told Cebu Daily News that she lost her cargo of pipes worth P47,250 in the fire.
“I’m sorry for my customers. They paid for those pipes with cash,” she said.
According to Roble, the ship was insured for about P65 million. He said the company would immediately find a replacement vessel to temporarily serve the Cebu-Ormoc route.
MV Wonderful Stars was launched in 2007 with a passenger capacity of 820 and a gross tonnage of 1,200.
Roble said he purchased the vessel in Japan.
MV Wonderful Stars was among the vessels used during relief operations for victims of supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013 and the rescue operation for the MB Kim Nirvana-B tragedy last July 2.
This was Roble Shipping’s second vessel to be hit by a fire. A published report showed that in 2006 an early morning fire broke out in MV Heaven Stars, burning eight life boats and decommissioning 42 bunks.
The shipping line has more than 20 vessels that ferry passengers and cargo from Cebu to Hilongos, Baybay, Ormoc, Naval and Catbalogan. /With an Inquirer report