Close to 6,000 passengers were stranded across 81 seaports in eight regions on Tuesday, Nov. 25, as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) enforced a sweeping no-sail order amid the onslaught of Tropical Depression Verbena.

From 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., the PCG recorded 5,832 stranded individuals along with 1,981 rolling cargoes, 123 vessels, and 26 motorbancas unable to leave various ports due to rough sea conditions in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Southern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Northeastern Mindanao.

PCG spokesperson Captain Noemie Cayabyab said the largest concentration of stranded passengers was in Southern Tagalog with 1,578.

“Medyo marami po sa Southern Tagalog, sa area ng Batangas Port (There are quite a lot in Southern Tagalog, particularly in the Batangas Port area)” she said.

This was followed by Central Visayas with 1,117 stranded passengers; Western Visayas with 914; and Bicol with 948. Eastern Visayas logged 759 stranded passengers; Southern Visayas with 421; Northern Mindanao with 80; and Northeastern Mindanao with 15.

Cayabyab said passengers were being provided with food packs, hot meals, and potable water at major ports to ensure their convenience despite the cancellation of trips.

“Sa mga malalaking pantalan, nandyan po ang local government units kasama po ang PPA [Philippine Ports Authority] at shipping companies (In major ports, the local government units are there together with the PPA and the shipping companies),” she added.

Meanwhile, at least 141 vessels and motorbancas were also monitored taking shelter to avoid the effects of the bad weather.

Aside from Batangas, port operations in major gateways including Lucena, Caticlan, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, and Cagayan de Oro were among those heavily disrupted as Verbena continued to bring strong winds and moderate to heavy rains in affected regions.

The PCG said the suspension of trips will remain until weather conditions improve and it is safe for vessels to resume operations.

The PCG reminded shipping companies to strictly follow the no-sail policy in areas under storm signals and urged passengers to monitor advisories before proceeding to terminals.

Evacuation

Aside from monitoring seaports, the PCG also placed its units on heightened alert and launched preemptive evacuations in Negros Occidental and Mandaue City, Cebu ahead of Verbena.

Cayabyab said the PCG also worked closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the distribution of food packs and family kits.

“Patuloy po ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa coastal areas na sumunod sa direktiba ng local na otoridad, partikular sa pagsasagawa ng preemptive evacuations (We are continuously coordinating with coastal communities to follow the directives of local authorities, particularly in carrying out preemptive evacuations),” she stated.