Ship catches fire off Negros

BACOLOD CITY — Fire broke out on the wagon deck of a vessel of the Negros Navigation Company while it was cruising toward Bacolod City from Cagayan de Oro City before dawn yesterday.

The Manila-bound M/V St. Joseph was in the vicinity of Hinobaan, Negros Occidental when the incident happened.

However, the fire, which struck at 3:30 a.m., was contained after 30 minutes with no reported injuries to both passengers and crew, and no damage to cargo, Negros Navigation’s Bacolod manager Grace Golez said.

The cause of the fire was still being determined as of press time, she said.

The vessel left Hinobaan at 7:15 a.m. after it was thoroughly inspected to check if it was still safe to proceed, Golez said.

The vessel left Cagayan de Oro at 5 p.m. Wednesday with 399 passengers, 56 of whom were bound for Bacolod and 98 for Iloilo.

It was scheduled to reach Bacolod at 6 a.m. yesterday but the incident caused a five-hour delay.

On board the vessel were Region 6 officials of the Department of Tourism, who told reporters that the ship’s crew, led by Capt. Leo Inocencio, handled the incident well and took care of all the passengers.

Golez said Iloilo-bound passengers were given the option to transfer to a fastcraft from Bacolod to Iloilo.

Upon reaching Bacolod, the vessel was again subjected to thorough inspection by Negros Navigation engineers and the Bacolod fire department to determine the cause of the fire.