Five Crewmembers Injured by Chlorine Leak Aboard Ro/Pax Ferry

On Saturday, first responders in Cebu saved five crewmembers from a ro/ro after a chemical leak on board. 

At about 1300 hours Saturday afternoon, the ferry Filipinas Surigao del Norte was preparing to get under way for Samar. The crew were loading a consignment of 20 chlorine tanks onto the ro/ro, and one fell over and leaked. According to local media, it dropped while it was being moved by forklift, and it hit other tanks, resulting in a leak. 

Five crewmembers were injured by the chlorine leak. The Cebu City fire department and a special-purpose fire and rescue service responded to the scene, and a team evacuated the injured crewmembers. They were transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment. 

All images courtesy BRP Region 7

The ferry's passengers were also evacuated with the pier and given medical evaluations and care, a fire department spokesman told local media. The area of the chlorine leak inside the ship's cargo bay was flushed with water as a precaution. 

According to the Philippine Inquirer, the crewmembers who were exposed to chlorine are  in stable condition. 

Filipinas Surigao Del Norte is a 500 dwt ferry built in 1999 at the Naikai Shipbuilding yard in Japan. She is one of a half-dozen vessels in the fleet of Cokaliong Shipping, a ferry operator based in Cebu.