A ferry tilted onto its side at a port in Quezon province, the Philippines, early on Friday, 30 October 2026. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rescued all 58 people on board. They were 18 crew members and 40 passengers, including two babies. No one died.
The ship is the Virgen de Peñafrancia II, a RoRo ferry operated by Starhorse Shipping Lines. RoRo means roll-on/roll-off: cars and trucks drive on and off the ship. The ship had come from Polillo Island and carried 14 vehicles, the PCG said, as reported by GMA News.
What happened
The ship was at Real Port, in Barangay Ungos, Real, Quezon. It was getting ready to let its passengers off.
The captain told the Coast Guard what happened, ABS-CBN News reported. A mooring rope holding the ship to the pier broke in a strong current. The front of the ship moved about 10 metres away from the pier. The crew tried to move the ship back. Then the bow, the front part of the ship, touched the bottom. The ship rolled onto its right side, called the starboard side.
The PCG said the ship tilted at 12:44 a.m. local time. The first report of MARINA, the Philippine Maritime Industry Authority, puts the broken mooring line at about 12:25 a.m. MARINA said the ship had a severe list to starboard and was partly under water. A list means the ship leans to one side.
The rescue ended at about 3:30 a.m. Local disaster officers checked all 58 people and said they were in good condition, DZRH reported. MARINA said three passengers were hurt. They had stayed inside a vehicle on board and were hit by a drum that moved. Coast Guard staff took them for medical care. All three are in stable condition, MARINA said.
Oil, salvage and an investigation
The ship had about 1,300 litres of marine diesel in its service tank. The PCG put oil booms around the ship to protect the coast. Oil booms are floating barriers that stop oil from spreading. The PCG told the company to apply for an emergency salvage permit and remove the ship safely.
The Transportation Secretary, Vince Dizon, ordered the ship's Passenger Ship Safety Certificate to be suspended. MARINA's regional office did this on the same day. The ship may not sail until a full safety inspection shows it is seaworthy.
MARINA sent marine casualty investigators to the port. They will check the ship's condition, its mooring, its stability and how the cargo was secured. MARINA said the cause is not yet confirmed. The Coast Guard is also investigating. The incident came just before the Undas holiday in early November, when many people in the Philippines travel to visit family graves.
For crews: mooring in strong currents
These are general safety points, not findings from this case.
Check the tide and current before you arrive at a berth. Strong currents can put a much bigger load on the mooring lines.
Keep enough lines out, and check them often while the ship is alongside. A worn or overloaded line can break without warning.
Never stand in the snap-back zone of a line under load. When a line breaks, it can whip back with great force and kill or injure people.
Secure all cargo, drums and loose items before arrival, not only at sea. Cargo can shift if the ship suddenly leans.
Keep passengers out of the car deck during arrival and departure, as your company's rules require. Make sure they know where to go in an emergency.
Cover photo: The passenger port of Real, Quezon, in June 2022. Illustrative photo. The ferries in the photo are not the ship in the story. Photo: Jameszz.d, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).
Sources: MARINA, 30 Oct 2026: MARINA suspends MV Virgen de Peñafrancia II safety certificate after Quezon incident, GMA News, 30 Oct 2026: RoRo vessel tilts to side in waters off Real, Quezon; 58 rescued, DZRH, 30 Oct 2026: PCG rescues 58 from tilted passenger vessel in Quezon, ABS-CBN News, 30 Oct 2026: Coast Guard deploys oil spill booms around capsized vessel in Quezon.
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