Ship ran aground off Barotac waters

By Maricar M. Calubiran

The M/V Asia Malaysia owned by Trans-Asia Shipping Company ran aground early morning Monday some 5 kilometers off the shoreline of Sitio Lamintao, Brgy. Talisay, Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.

The ship went stranded for more than two hours that caused anxiety among its hundreds of passengers.

The News Today learned that the vessel left the port of Cebu 6 p.m. Sunday.

The ship's crew alarmed the passengers around 4:00 a.m after it suffered engine trouble.

It went stranded until around 9:00 a.m. when the high tide started.

The ship was able to dock in Iloilo port at noon.

There were 331 passengers on board the ship including Mayor Carlos Cabangal, Vice Mayor Exequiel Palec of Banate, municipal planning officers of Saranggani province, Leyte, Surigao and Zamboanga and students from Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCST).

The municipal planning officers will have a three- day convention in the city while the students had their navigational trip in Cebu.

The ship captain Capt. Cruz Alcantara was allegedly still asleep when the ship went out of their route map and missed their point.

It was allegedly the chief mate who was the duty officer at the time of the incident.

Luckily, the officer and crew were able to maneuver the ship during the high tide and manage to return to its original route map.

All the passengers were accounted when the ship docked the port of Iloilo.