Oil tanker towed after running aground off Iloilo City

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—An oil tanker ran aground off a breakwater in Iloilo City Tuesday night due to strong winds and big waves but was towed away Wednesday.

The MT Bernardo Leo, operated by Dems Express Cargo, was carried by the current to the breakwater at Barangay Rizal Pala-Pala around 8 p.m., according to Police Officer 1 Modesto Castellano of the Coast Guard Station in Iloilo.

Castellano said the 396.32-ton oil tanker pulled out from the Iloilo Fishing Port to take shelter from the big waves at the Guimaras Strait when it drifted toward the breakwater.

A tugboat towed the tanker off the breakwater around 11:10 a.m. Wednesday, according to Castellano.

There was no damage to the vessel. No one was hurt. But Commodore Athelo Ybanez, Western Visayas Coast Guard commander, said the vessel has to undergo underwater inspection and secure a certificate of seaworthiness before it is allowed to depart.