Manila: Twenty-five passengers were declared safe after a fire that broke out aboard a ferry was brought under control off a southern Luzon island on Wednesday morning, a radio report said.
Two vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard and other commercial vessels assisted in controlling the fire that broke out aboard MV Cebu Ferry I off Matuco Village on Verde Island at 9:15 Wednesday morning, Police Officer Benelito Holgado of the Batangas District Coast Guard said in a radio interview.
The incident occurred after MV Cebu Ferry I left Batangas port, said Holgado, adding the Philippine Coast Guard and several commercial vessels immediately responded to the beleaguered ferry's distress call.
All the passengers were in safe hands during the incident, said Holgado. He did not identify the foreigners who were aboard the ferry.
Because of the incident, the ferry boat's arrival at the port of Caticlan to Boracay, world famous island for its white talcum beach in central Philippines, was delayed.
More than a million visitors, majority of them foreigners, are expected at Boracay Island in summer, starting March, the tourism department said.
One million visitors went to Boracay in 2011, records showed.
MV Cebu Ferry I is one of the commercial boats of Cebu Ferries Corporation, a company owned by three major shipping liners, William Lines, Gothong Lines and Aboitiz Transport.
