World | Philippines
300 people saved from ferry after 24 hours at sea
About 300 passengers on a ferry stranded in rough seas for more than 24 hours were safely carried to land by small boats on Friday as a tropical storm battered the western Philippines
- AP
- Published: 23:39 May 16, 2008
Manila: About 300 passengers on a ferry stranded in rough seas for more than 24 hours were safely carried to land by small boats on Friday as a tropical storm battered the western Philippines, officials said.
Passengers on the MV Starlite Pacific spent Thursday night and most of yesterday on the open sea south of Manila because the big waves prevented the ship from docking at the port of Roxas township in Oriental Mindoro province, the coast guard said.
Food was brought to the passengers by another vessel and dropped by a coast guard helicopter.
"The waves were too rough at the pier, so we were forced to return to the area where we dropped anchor," passenger Ariel Taton told a radio station by cell phone.
Jun Sinel, port manager of ferry owner Starlite Ferry Inc in Roxas, said he directed the ship captain to sail close to the shore of nearby Bongabon town where the waters were calmer.
He said motorised outriggers picked up the passengers and took them to Bongabon. They boarded buses to Roxas, where they were to transfer to a larger sister ship, Starlite Atlantic.
Tropical storm
The passengers were headed to central Panay Island before dawn Thursday, but big waves forced the captain to turn back, Sinel said.
Rain and high waves were brought by a tropical storm that formed in the South China Sea, west of the Philippines. The storm gained strength with sustained winds of 75 kilometres per hour as it moved toward Pangasinan province northwest of Manila.
At least 15 provinces were placed on storm alert. Incessant rain has forced several thousand people to leave their homes.
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