The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has responded to a maritime incident involving M/V Maria Helena that was reported to be approximately 100 meters from the shoreline of Barangay Nasunugan, Banton, Romblon early morning Sunday.
According to Captain Elmo Sumocol, the distressed passenger vessel of the Montenegro Shipping Lines Inc. had 50 passengers (including drivers), 32 crew members (including the captain), and 16 rolling cargoes on board.
He said the listing occurred after a tire of one of the rolling cargoes blew up, which broke the lashing.
At around 3 am, the passengers started disembarking MV Maria Helena using its lifeboat.
The PCG team and local passenger boats in the vicinity waters also assisted in the safe disembarkation of the passengers. They were brought to the Barangay Nasunugan to check their condition and for further assistance.
At around 4:35 am, Sumocol reported that all 50 passengers were safe.
However, MV Maria Helena already listed 10 degrees portside due to an imbalance of cargo and seawater that entered the distressed vessel.
He also confirmed no signs of cracks or holes on the ship’s hull.
Out of the 50 passengers, nine (drivers) stayed on board to monitor their rolling cargoes, together with 32 crew members who continued to assess and monitor the vessel’s status
The vessel left Lucena Port in Lucena City, Quezon Province, bound for San Agustin Port in Tablas, Romblon, when the incident transpired.
Initial information was received from Christian Vergara, a resident of Barangay Bagacay in Romblon, Romblon, who informed that his cousin and friend were passengers onboard MV Maria Helena of Montenegro Shipping and was in distress.
Coast Guard Station in Romblon immediately coordinated with its rescue teams in San Agustin, Banton, Command Outpost Corcuera, and personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office-Banton for rescue operations.
Around 2:12 AM, PCG duty operation received a report from the Supervisor of Montenegro that the vessel with 16 rolling cargoes, including motorcycles onboard, already ran aground.
At 3:06 AM, CGS Romblon was informed that the vessel was disembarking passengers using the lifeboat.
Local passenger boats in the said area and Coast Guard Sub-station Banton personnel immediately assisted in disembarking all passengers, who were later transferred to a covered court at said barangay.
Captain Sumocol stated that the vessel has approximately 21,000 liters of marine diesel oil (MDO) remaining onboard.
PCG’s Marine Environmental Protection Group in Romblon is on standby for possible oil spill response.