A ferry with 223 embarked passengers ran aground as it was transiting the waters of Iloilo province in the central Philippines on Tuesday, August 9.
The Ro-Pax ferry Filipinas Cebu had just departed Iloilo City and was en route to Tinago Port in Cebu province when its hull made bottom contact between Igbon and Agho Islands at around 00:08 local time on Tuesday.
The Philippine Coast Guard and other partner agencies deployed patrol boats with embarked search and rescue (SAR) teams to render assistance to the stricken vessel.
All passengers and crew were safely evacuated and no signs of oil spill were detected. Cokaliong Shipping Lines, owner of Filipinas Cebu, deployed another ferry to the area to transport the off-loaded passengers to their final destination of Tinago.
An investigation revealed that Filipinas Cebu's helmsman fell asleep while the ferry was underway off Iloilo, resulting in the grounding.
