CEBU CITY, Philippines -- Two passengers sustained slight injuries when an Ormoc City-bound passenger vessel and a cargo vessel bound for Cebu City collided early Saturday off the waters of Liloan, Cebu.
Chief Petty Officer Virgilio Tibayan of the Cebu Coastguard identified the injured as Michael Sortena, 41, and Vincent Mateo, 45, both passengers of MV Wonderful Star owned by Roble Shipping Lines.
Both vessels were able to sail to their ports of destination, the Philippine Coast Guard in Manila said.
The passenger vessel left Cebu City's Pier 3 at 10 p.m. Friday bound for Ormoc City in Leyte.
MV Wonderful Star collided with a foreign-owned cargo vessel MCC Sulo at 1:20 a.m. Saturday around 4.5 nautical miles from Liloan town, some 19 kilometers north of Cebu City.
Commander Antonio Cuasito, Coastguard District Central Eastern Visayas chief of staff, said the two vessels sustained slight damages.
The MV Wonderful Star's port side (left side) catwalk railings were slightly damaged while MCC Sulo's starboard (right) bow had a slight scratch, Cuasito said.
MV Wonderful Star, with 607 passengers (including nine children and 12 infants) and 78 crewmen, arrived safely in Ormoc City at 5:20 a.m. It was scheduled to arrive at Ormoc City at around 3:30 a.m.
The two injured passengers who sustained slight injuries on their arms were brought to Ospa Medical Center for treatment.
The MCC Sulo carrying containerized cargoes also arrived at the Cebu International Port at 4 a.m.
Cuasito said the Coast Guard had called the officials of Roble Shipping Lines and MCC Sulo for a meeting at 5 p.m. Saturday to find out why the accident occurred.
Both vessels claimed they radioed each other but did not get any response.
Cuasito, however, said that the MCC Sulo was sailing too fast at 70 knots while the passenger was sailing at only 12 knots.
However, he would not say if 70 knots could be considered over-speeding.
The Coast Guard has required the ship captain Alex D. Estabillo and Wonderful Star ship captain Joseph Andrew Lape to file a marine protest.
MCC Sulo, which has 19 crewmen on board, had a 9,996- gross tonnage while Wonderful Star had a gross tonnage of 1,297. (With Katherine Evangelista, INQUIRER.net )
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