5,500 passengers stranded in Matnog port—OCD

Matnog port. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay—Around 5,500 passengers bound for Samar province were stranded at Matnog port in Sorsogon after maritime authorities suspended ferry crossings due to turbulent seas churned up by tropical depression “Agaton”, the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol said Saturday.

Citing a Philippine Coast Guard report, Rafael Bernardo Alejandro, OCD-Bicol director, said aside from the passengers, there were also 367 vehicles stranded at the port.

He said the vehicles consisted of 227 trucks, 88 buses and 52 light vehicles, which were still lined up along the Maharlika Highway leading to the port and awaiting their cue for possible boarding on ferry boats plying the Matnog-Allen, Samar route.

Bernardo said only three ferry boats were available to accommodate the stranded travelers bound for Samar province but these were not allowed to sail.

The government weather bureau, in its morning bulletin, said sea travel was risky due to the weather disturbance.