Sea trips to areas affected by Typhoon Rolly suspended: Coast Guard

MANILA— The Philippine Coast Guard on Saturday said it has suspended sea trips of all types of vessels to areas that may be affected by Typhoon Rolly, which continues to gain strength as it heads for Luzon.

“Ayaw na nating maulit 'yung sa Typhoon Quinta na maraming vessels ang nagkaroon ng problema lalo dito sa Bauan, Batangas so maaga tayong nag-issue ng notice to mariners na maghanap ng mapagtataguan at i-secure ng mabuti 'yung mga barko,” said PCG spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo.

(We don’t want a repeat of what happened during Typhoon Quinta where many vessels encountered problems particularly in Bauan, Batangas that’s why we issued the notice to mariners earlier for them to look for a place to secure their vessels.)

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In an interview on TeleRadyo, Balilo said they suspended sea trips in the entire Bicol and Northern Samar areas at 11 p.m. Friday.

This was followed by the suspension of sea trips at 5 a.m. Saturday in Southern Tagalog, including Mindoro, Batangas, the port of Lucena and even the port of Manila.

“Lahat ng pagsususpende ay dahil po sa ating pag-iingat sa bagyong darating,” he said.

(These suspensions are part of our sefety measures against the coming typhoon.)

Sea travel will only resume once weather conditions improve.

Due to the suspension of sea trips, there are now passengers stranded in some ports, particularly in Batangas.

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“Sa Batangas may pinababa na tayo kanina sa dalawang barkong inabutan ng ating suspension, mga 58 po 'yung mga taong nasa Batangas ngayon,” he said.

(About 58 passengers were ordered to disembark from 2 vessels following the suspension on sea trips in Batangas.)

Balilo also advised those planning to travel by sea to postpone their trips.

“Sinasabihan na namin kayo na wala na pong biyahe sa mga roro ports lalong-lalo na Batangas at Matnog,” he said.

Typhoon Rolly, the strongest tropical cyclone in the world so far this year, is on the verge of becoming a super typhoon, PAGASA said.

The tropical cyclone was packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 265 kph as of 4 a.m. Saturday, according to PAGASA.

It was last spotted 655 kilometers east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, moving westward at 20 kph.