Strong winds, big waves run ship, barges aground

A container ship ran aground while docking off in Talisay City due to strong winds and big waves caused by supertyphoon Yolanda at 10 a.m. yesterday.

Commodore William Melad of the Philippine Coast Guard-Central Visayas said a tugboat from the Malayan towage was hired to tow foreign vessel MV Schelde Trader back to port.

Operations still continued as of 4 p.m. yesterday and Melad said all crew members on board the vessel were safe including the ship captain Dmitri Melkosirov.

The ship came from Singapore. In Bohol, two barges identified as Big Champ and Roger ran aground in Guindulman town. Each barge had eight crew members.

Except for one crew member who remains missing, all the others were brought to safety by the search and rescue team and Coast Guard personnel.

Melad said strong waves and zero visibility was experienced at the Mactan Channel yesterday. Other vessels were safely docked in areas designated by the Cebu Port Authority (CPA).

CPA Deputy Manager Lawyer Yusop Uckung said 66 vessels were anchored in these areas, including 24 passenger vessels, 15 fast crafts, 16 general cargo vessels, five container vessels and six tankers.

In Cebu City, there were 51 stranded passengers who were accommodated inside the passenger terminal buildings.

They were later taken to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office.

The CPA building also sustained damage from the typhoon. The roofs of the male restroom was ripped off along with the roofing of Terminal 3, Pier 3 and the covered walk at the Pier 1 terminal.

The CPA said it has yet to hear from the Hagnaya Port in San Remigio town and Sta. Fe Port in Bantayan Island since communication lines are down in these areas.