Fishermen and the crew of a passenger ship rescued more than 130 people onboard a Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) vessel that caught fire while sailing a few kilometers from the Tagbilaran City port in Bohol province Sunday.
It was the second significant fire on a ferry boat in the country in three months, following the blaze that cost the lives of 33 people off the coast of Basilan last March.
In a separate incident on Friday, Two Turkish nationals were rescued after a fire gutted their yacht near Limbones Island in Nasugbu town, Batangas.
The RoRo vessel, the MV Esperanza Star owned by Kho Shipping Lines Inc.
(KSL), traveled from Iligan City and left Siquijor Saturday night.
It was expected to dock at the Tagbilaran port at 4 a.m. on Sunday.
But it sent a distress call when a fire erupted outside the engine room while traversing Doljo Point near Panglao Island, said Anthony Damalerio, head of the Tagbilaran City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO).
“No one was missing. No one was injured. All passengers and crew are accounted for,” he said.
He said the shipping company provided water, clothes, and slippers at the Tagbilaran port terminal.
In a statement posted on its official social media page, KSL thanked Bohol coast guard, TransAsia 19 personnel, and fishermen “for instantly responding to the distress call” when their ship caught fire.
“All crew and passengers were immediately rescued to safety, being taken care of and all accounted for,” it said.
KSL’s RoRo vessel was serving the Cebu City-Tagbilaran City-Lazi, Siquijor-Iligan City route.
The statement said functional fire suppression systems installed atthe vessel, such as CO2, fire hydrants, sprinkling systems and others, were immediately activated to put off the fire and avert further damage to the vessel.
The company said it will replace the vessel this week with MV Cataingan so as not to hamper the flow and continue serving passengers and cargoes plying the route.
In Nasugbu, Batangas, police said the yacht’s captain, 62-year-old Erdinc Turerer, and boatman Abdula Ercel, 42, were rescued from the burning yacht by local fishermen and authorities.
Turerer suffered first-degree burns after being caught in the fire.
The victims were sailing from San Isidro, Leyte to Ilocos Norte when strong waves toppled the yacht’s fuel containers into its engine room and gas tank, triggering an explosion and starting the fire.
The two victims managed to abandon the yacht before it exploded but were separated by the strong current.
Both victims were taken to hospital and were in stable condition.
Earlier this year, 33 people died when the MV Mary Joy 3 was engulfed by fire off Basilan in late March.
The ferry was traveling to Sulu from Zamboanga when it caught fire off Baluk-Baluk island, Basilan in the late hours of March 29. Of the 249 passengers, 216 survived.