A total of 4,631 passengers were stranded across 55 ports nationwide on Friday, Dec. 5, after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) suspended sea travel in areas affected by Tropical Depression Wilma.
PCG spokesperson Captain Noemie Cayabyab said the directive was issued by Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, who ordered all units placed on heightened alert as rough sea conditions persisted.
“We are on a heightened alert status. As we speak, we are monitoring these ports with affected vessels, motorbancas, and stranded passengers. These are the areas where storm signals have been raised,” she said.
Although Wilma remained a small weather system, far-reaching travel suspensions were imposed due to the PCG’s safety protocol.
“Usually, our policy when issuing sailing suspensions covers the point of origin, the route, and the destination of vessels. That’s why the number we recorded is quite large even though the storm’s coverage is relatively small,” Cayabyab explained.
The latest advisory showed 1,484 rolling cargoes, 45 vessels, and 26 motorbancas were also stranded across different ports in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Southern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Northeastern Mindanao.
Another 107 vessels and 53 motorbancas were also taking shelter in ports.
Bicol logged the highest disruption with 2,150 passengers and 647 rolling cargoes stuck in ports, including 1,335 passengers in Matnog alone.
Eastern and Central Visayas also reported more than 1,500 combined stranded travelers. (Martin Sadongdong)
