Search and rescue (SAR) personnel were working round-the-clock to find two passengers who remained unaccounted for after a roll-on/roll-off passenger ship caught fire off an anchorage area in Batangas on Friday afternoon, August 26.

Joint teams from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and Special Operations Unit – Southern Tagalog inspected the stricken M/V Asia Philippines after it went ablaze while en route to dock at the Batangas City port at 5:59 p.m. – one nautical mile southwest from the port.

The vessel, which is being operated by the Batangas-based Starlite Ferries Inc. and skippered by Captain Nicu Gregorio, left the Port of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro at 3 p.m. and arrived at the Port of Batangas at 5:30 p.m. when the incident struck.

The PCG initially reported that the vessel was carrying 82 individuals – 48 passengers and 34 crew members – but they later revealed that there were actually 87 people aboard – 49 passengers and 38 crew members.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, August 27, 85 individuals were already rescued, the PCG said. Among those rescued was a 43-year-old woman (initially reported as 44-year-old woman) who was rushed to the hospital for the treatment of her injuries.

Commodore Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, said the SAR teams were determining whether the two passengers who were still unaccounted for were still on the ship or they left the area without being documented by the authorities.

“Inaalam ngayon kung talagang hindi pa nahahanap ang dalawa pang nawawalang pasahero (We are determining whether the two passengers are still missing),” he said.

“May posibilidad na na-rescue na sila at agad na umuwi bago ang isinagawang documentation o kaya naman ay nadoble sa listahan ang kanilang pangalan (There is a possibility that they were already rescued and went home before they were documented or there was a double entry of names in the list of passengers),” he added.

The fire was declared under control at 9:04 p.m. and was out at 10:15 p.m. Due to the blaze, the ship tilted and had to be towed to the Batangas anchorage area.

Investigators said that the 80 percent of the ship’s deck and 90 percent of its third deck were damaged due to the fire.

The 16 rolling cargoes that were also onboard remained intact and had no damages, said Captain Vic Acosta, commander of Coast Guard Station Batangas

Meanwhile, authorities were also implementing measures to prevent a possible oil spill on M/V Asia Philippines.

According to the management of Starlite Ferries Inc., there was an estimated 16,000 liters of automotive diesel oil stored in the fuel tank of M/V Asia Philippines.