None hurt in Cebu ferry mishap

No one was hurt when a Cebu-bound ferry allegedly caught fire off the coasts of Siquijor and Dumaguete slightly after midnight yesterday. Company officials said the ship was in "no grave danger and risk to life" and that a statement will be released soon.

Aboitiz Transport System-operated M/V Our Lady of Fatima left the Port of Ozamiz at 7 p.m. Sunday on its way to Cebu, after navigating some four hours passengers were awakened by smoke between midnight to 12:30 a.m. yesterday. The vessel had carried some 600 passengers and 80 crew. It arrived safely at about 5 p.m. yesterday.

Maritime Industry Authority safety engineer Philip Geniston would not categorically say how the fire started but that "sparks emanated from the main engine." Geniston said crew saw sparks at slightly after midnight but Commodore Ramon C. Liwag of the Coast Guard regional command said they received the alert at about 12:30 a.m.

Geniston, who boarded the vessel when the ship docked at about 5 p.m. yesterday said that upon initial investigation, sparks emanated from the main engine's exhaust manifold causing fire to run through ducting lines of ventilating blowers. The fire was easily contained in seconds emitting so much smoke that it alarmed passengers.

Geniston would not say how combustion, ignition and fuel could have caused exhaust manifolds to spark. "This will be the subject of a deeper investigation," he said.

The ship resumed its journey running on a single engine and arrived safely at port some 10 hours behind its expected arrival time of 7 a.m.

A woman passenger who traveled with her husband and two children aged two and four said that even if they were all safe, nothing could take away the trauma they went through. The woman stayed in suite accommodations and said she knew about the problem when her husband heard commotion. "By the time we went out, smoke and smog were all we could see," she said.

The Coast Guard immediately dispatched its search and rescue vessel and escorted the ship to port.