A total of 223 passengers and crew members were rescued from a passenger ship that ran aground off Romblon, Romblon on Sunday night, March 10.
M/V SWM Salve Regina was traversing the vicinity waters off Sitio Agbuyog in Barangay Capaclan around 11: 45 p.m. when it suddenly hit shallow waters, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
The vessel departed from Magdiwang Port, Romblon and was bound for Romblon, Romblon when the incident happened. It was carrying 168 passengers and 55 crew members, as well as 21 rolling cargoes.
Personnel from the Coast Guard Station Romblon responded and rescued all the passengers who were subjected to a medical checkup. Meanwhile, the crew members were also checked but they opted to stay onboard the vessel for monitoring.
The PCG said that no sign of oil spill was observed following the incident.
Hit by dolphin
Meanwhile, a fisherman who went missing for three days off Agno, Pangasinan was finally rescued on Sunday.
Dexter Abalos, 32, of Brgy. Aloleng, went fishing on March 7 but failed to return home.
A search and rescue operation was launched by the Coast Guard District North Western Luzon to find Abalos. The operation bore fruit when a Britten-Norman (BN) Islander 251 aircraft of the PCG located the fisherman about 30 nautical miles off the coast of Agno.
According to PCG, Abalos was on his way back home when his motorboat was suddenly hit by a dolphin, causing the vessel to capsize.
“Fortunately, he managed to swim towards a fish marker, locally known as ‘payao’, and tied his motorbanca to it. Mr Abalos stayed there for days waiting for a rescue to arrive,” the PCG added.