Over 9,000 sea passengers stranded

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CALAPAN CITY, Philippines— A total of 9,286 sea passengers were stranded at various ports mostly in Manila and Southern Luzon as weakening Tropical Depression Quinta hovered over the waters off Coron, Palawan Thursday, state agencies said.

Manila has the biggest number of stranded travellers at  3,250, followed by Calapan City at 2,769, and Batangas at 2,115, the Philippine Coast Guard reported as of 7 a.m.

Albay has 252, Camarines Sur 65, Catanduanes 10, Caticlan 58, Lucena 629, and Mamburao with 138 passengers, the PCG added.

Five vessels with 464 rolling cargoes were in the said ports, it said.

As of 4 a.m. Thursday, Tropical Depression “Quinta” slowed down as it approached Palawan and was located 60 kilometers southwest of Coron, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

It has maximum winds of 55 kilometers per hour near the center and moving west at 17 kph.