A passenger ship carrying 448 passengers and four rolling cargoes tilted to its side while sailing off Misamis Oriental on Sunday night, Nov. 12.
MV Filipinas Cagayan de Oro was traversing the vicinity waters off Laguindingan around 8:05 p.m. when it suddenly encountered 30-degree listing "due to strong winds caused by bad weather," the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
The vessel came from Cagayan de Oro, and was en route to Cebu when the incident occurred.
Personnel of the Coast Guard Station Cagayan de Oro assisted as the passengers and rolling cargoes disembarked from the distressed vessel.
After the rescue of the passengers, MV Filipinas Cagayan de Oro returned and safely arrived at the Cagayan de Oro Port around 11:20 p.m.
PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan instructed the Maritime Safety Services Command (MSSC) to investigate and check the safety procedures and protocols implemented by the vessel's shipping company and its crew.
"This is to assure the public that we value the safety of the passengers and as much as possible incidents like this are prevented, especially now that the Christmas season is approaching where maritime traffic is increasing," PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said on Monday, Nov. 13.
According to Balilo, the PCG received information that MV Filipinas Cagayan de Oro listed due to "unstable lashing of the rolling cargoes."
As this developed, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) suspended the passenger ship safety certificate (PSSC) of MV Filipinas Cagayan de Oro.
Marina Northern Mindanao (Region 10) officer-in-charge Angelica Mortola said the incident has called into question the vessel's seaworthiness so its safety certificate has been suspended in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9295 (Domestic Shipping Development Act of 2004) among others.
"The suspension of the PSSC of MV Filipinas Cagayan de Oro shall remain effective and may be restored/reinstated after a satisfactory result of Marina survey inspection and/or evaluation of all available data surrounding the incident," Mortola said.