Passenger ship catches fire

A cargo-passenger ship of the Gothong Shipping Lines caught fire yesterday morning while being anchored and was scheduled for a regular dry-dock repairs at Pier 7.

The MV Manila Bay 1, which was anchored at the Gothong Private Wharf, has undergone a minor repair when the fire suddenly broke out from its second level.

Upon receiving the alarm at 10:43 a.m., personnel of the Mandaue City Bureau of Fire Protection rushed to the scene. Other firefighting units from Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Filipino-Chinese Fire Brigade and Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation also rushed to help.

Aside from the land-based firefighting units, two Philippine Navy ships led by the BRP Apolinario Mabini and a Coast Guard ship also rushed to the fire scene to help put out the fire.

Some 30 firefighting crews from the USS Blue Ridge, the command ship of the US Seventh Fleet anchored outside the Mactan Channel, also arrived to help combat the fire.

The USS Blue Ridge arrived in Cebu last Sunday afternoon from Manila as part of its humanitarian mission in three major cities in the country.

To effectively fight the fire, the company ordered the removal of several forty-footer container vans from the ship's cargo hold so firetrucks can get inside.

SFO4 Jose Laureto of the Mandaue City BFP told The FREEMAN that the fire started when one of the welders, Daly Ando, was cutting the metal floor on the third level using acetylene.

Falling embers and flacks started to spark when they landed on the pile of bedding stock on the second level where the tourist deck is located.

Francisco Mejares, legal counsel of Gothong Shipping Lines, told The Freeman that the 9,000-gross ton ship stopped to operate more than a week ago as its is due for dry-dock repairs this week.

Mejares said for safety reasons, their fleet has to undergo dry-dock repairs once in every two years to make sure its seaworthiness.

Meanwhile, Marlon Martin, a maritime safety inspector of the Maritime Industry Authority-7, told The FREEMAN that there would be an investigation into the incident.

Firefighters battled the fire for four hours and ten minutes because of the strong wind. Paint and other combustible materials inside have made efforts to put out the fire quickly very hard because of the thick black smoke they produced.

Laureto said they have initially placed the damage of the fire at P2.5 million but added that they are expecting the figure to be much higher once the company declares the final list of the damaged equipment and contents of the vessel.

Earlier, a fire razed three houses in sitio La Cross in Tres de Abril, barangay Labangon.

SFO2 Felix Romero of the Cebu City Bureau of Fire Protection said the fire, which broke out at around 9:02 a.m., started at the house owned by a certain Victoria Manalili when two of her sons with ages six and four reportedly played with their gas range.

The fire also razed the neighboring houses owned by Roger Ugabang and Julie Salazar. However, no one was hurt in the incident. - Edwin Ian Melecio/LPM