Passengers flock to the Batangas Port one day ahead of New Year’s Eve on December 30, 2023. (Photo from Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog on Facebook.)
MANILA, Philippines — The number of travelers from seaports in Southern Luzon neared the 20,000 mark a day prior to New Year’s Eve, the Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog (CGDSTL) said on Saturday.
In its morning monitoring report, the CGDSTL said that 10,045 passengers have traveled by sea from the ports of Batangas, Balanacan in Marinduque; Real, Polillo, and Lucena in Quezon; Abra de Ilog and San Jose in Occidental Mindoro and Ambulong and Magdiwang in Romblon.
Inbound passengers, or those arriving at the same ports, reached the 8,551 mark.
Meanwhile, in its evening report, the CGDSTL said that outbound passengers reached 10,573 while inbound passengers were logged at 9,030.
In an interview over at UNTV, Coast Guard Station Batangas Commander Capt. Jerome Jeciel explained that they are anticipating the number of passengers at Batangas port to further increase until the morning of December 31.
Previously, the Philippine Coast Guard had “placed its districts, stations, and sub-stations on ‘heightened alert’ from 15 December 2023 to 03 January 2024 to ensure the safety and security of passengers traveling by sea,” the CGDSTL noted.
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) previously said that it is expecting the number of sea travelers to soar to around 300,000 nationwide before the start of the new year.
The Maritime Industry Authority, meantime, issued sea travel reminders and tips amid the holiday season travel rush.