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The Coast Guard says a Leyte-bound vessel was forced to return to Surigao due to three- to five-meter-high waves
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – The Philippine Coast Guard temporarily suspended sea travel in Surigao City, the Siargao Islands, and the Dinagat Islands due to gale-force winds associated with the southwest monsoon, or habagat.
The decision to suspend had nothing to do with the low pressure area (LPA) inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) which became a tropical depression on Monday morning, September 16.
Coast Guard Surigao del Norte Ensign Christopher Roy Orillaneda said a fast craft bound for Liloan, Leyte, had to return to Surigao City after encountering three- to five-meter-high waves on Sunday, September 15.
“Some boat skippers found it wise to return to port rather than be caught by the gale-force winds and strong waves at sea,” Orillaneda told Rappler by phone.
Orillaneda said their move came after a warning from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) about the worsening conditions across the sea between Surigao del Norte, Leyte, Dinagat, and Siargao Islands.
Surigao del Norte Coast Guard station commander Lieutenant Christian Robert Nieto temporarily suspended all voyages of vessels weighing 250 gross tons and below.
Nieto also advised fishermen using small boats to stay home and not go out to fish.
The Surigao del Norte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said the Coast Guard order affected fishermen’s boats weighing 50 gross tons and below, as well as fast crafts plying the routes between Surigao City and Dinagat, Siargao, and Liloan in Leyte.
On September 11, Coast Guard responders rescued two passengers of a small boat that sank after encountering rough sea conditions off Surigao City. A passing fisherman’s boat rescued six other passengers from the sinking vessel.
In Manticao, Misamis Oriental, Divina Suson, head of the town’s Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said Coast Guard personnel and responders aborted the search for fisherman Leo Tecson, a resident of Barangay Punta Silum, Manticao, who has been missing since September 13.
Suson said the waves were too strong for the small boats used in the search for the missing fisherman. – Rappler.com
