Passenger ferry from Nasipit runs aground in Jagna, Bohol; passengers, crew all safe

CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 29 October) — A passenger ferry from the port of Nasipit, Agusan del Norte ran aground in Jagna, Bohol after the ship was buffeted by strong winds and waves Friday night.

Ensign Jordz Emata, information officer of the Philippine Coast Guard said all its passengers had disembarked from M/V Lite Ferry 1 in Jagna port and the ferry was maneuvering to the anchorage area when it ran aground.

Emata said the ship captain was trying to maneuver the ship to the anchorage to escape severe tropical storm ‘Paeng’ which was packing sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour.

“All the 23 crew members including its ship captain are safe and successfully evacuated from the vessel,” Emata told reporters in Cebu.

^{Map shows distance between Nasipit in Agusan del Norte and Jagna in Bohol. Map courtesy of Google Maps}

M/V Lite Ferry 1, a 479-ton passenger cargo ship of Cebu-based Lite Ferries Corporation, regularly plies the ports of Nasipit and Cagayan de Oro in northeastern Mindanao and Jagna in Bohol Island.

The Philippine Coast Guard has suspended ferry operations in Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin island province until the weather clears up. 

Five to eight-foot waves spawned by ‘Paeng’ also prompted rescuers to evacuate 208 families or 583 persons living in the coastal shorelines of barangays Agusan, Puerto and Bugo Friday night.

Moahna Sagrado head of the Cagayan de Oro Disaster Risk Reduction Management office coordinating center said they fielded a team of 16 rescuers to these villages when frantic calls for rescue came at around 10 p.m. Friday.

“Later we have to deploy USAR teams from the Coast Guard and Bureau of Fire Protection after we received reports that several families have been trapped,” Sagrado said. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)