PCG accounts for all aboard Batangas ferry that caught fire

Passengers of a Ro-Ro vessel that caught fire in the vicinity of Batangas port on Friday, August 26, 2022, are being rescued by emergency personnel. (Photo courtesy of Philippine Coast Guard)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has accounted for all passengers and crew of the ferry M/V Asia Philippines that caught fire just before it docked at the Batangas City port on Friday.

In an update on Saturday, the PCG said it had verified that the two passengers who remained missing on Friday were found to have boarded another vessel and were not among the 82 passengers and crew who were onboard. There were no fatalities.

But the PCG had yet to determine the cause of the fire that broke out around 5:58 p.m. Friday when it was about to dock at the Batangas port.

The PCG said the ferry tilted slightly, but there were no traces of an oil spill from the fuel that the vessels was supposedly carrying.

The management of Starlite Ferries, Inc., which operates the ferry, estimated that 16,000 liters of automotive diesel oil were stored in the fuel tank.

The 16 rolling cargoes that were aboard the ferry were likewise undamaged.

The ferry departed Calapan in Oriental Mindoro to Batangas at about 3 p.m. on Friday.

—JOHN ERIC MENDOZA

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