Ro-ro stranded off Mindoro; rescue ops on for 54 passengers

The Philippine Coast Guard on Thursday started rescue operations for 54 passengers of a roll-on-roll-off (ro-ro) vessel that got stranded off Calapan in Oriental Mindoro. No one was reported hurt in the incident where the ro-ro vessel initially identified as MV Valeno stalled while approaching Calapan Port, radio dzBB's Carlo Mateo reported. Sketchy initial reports indicated the incident occurred at 6:30 a.m. when the vessel was heading for Calapan from Batangas. But as it neared the port, its propeller fell off, causing the vessel to stall. The report quoted the Coast Guard detachment in Calapan as saying it expected no problem in transferring the passengers to another vessel that will take them to port. Also, the Coast Guard asked the vessel's skipper to submit a report detailing what happened. — LBG, GMA News