Coast Guard: 6,000 passengers stranded in ports

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Typhoon Glenda (Rammasun) has stranded over 6,000 passengers at various ports in the country as of Wednesday morning, July 16.

The Philippine Coast Guard said in its latest bulletin that a total of 6,551  passengers, 614 rolling cargoes, 37 vessels and 24 motor bancas are stranded due to the typhoon.

PCG Spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said in an interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan that as of Wednesday morning, the PCG has not received any maritime mishap-related casualty report.

“The President has called for zero casualty and hopefully this [typhoon] will pass without any fishermen going out to sea or passengers insisting on traveling. Maybe they’ve learned their lesson. We haven’t received any such report from our stations,” he said.

Balilo also said that a roll-on roll-off ferry ran aground off the coast of Batangas on Wednesday morning.

Balilo said the ferry – Super Shuttle Roro 5 – had taken shelter at the Bravo Anchorage at Sta Clara, Batangas, on Monday to take shelter from the storm, but was buffeted by heavy seas and drifted at around 3 am that morning. The ship was later towed back and none of the crewmembers suffered injuries.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Council also reported that MV Ocean Hope with 24 crew members onboard ran aground north of San Nicholas Shoal in Cavite. In a briefing with media, NDRRMC chief Undersecretary Alexander Pama said the vessel is currently drifting towards Corregidor Island.  

Balilo said that the PCG is monitoring the coastline of Baseco in Manila and Navotas City – both included in the list of areas where a storm surge may occur – but has not received any reports of untoward incident as of that time. – Rappler.com

Get the latest update on #GlendaPH via our live blog.