Some 1,295 passengers were stranded in Central Visayas because of Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal Number One hoisted over the region on December 18, 2023 because of Tropical Storm "Kabayan" (international name: Jelawat).

Philippine Coast Guard Cebu Commander Mark Larsen Mariano said that all types of vessels were prohibited from sailing because of the presence of a tropical cyclone in the Philippine Area of Responsibility, based on weather bulletins and gale warnings issued by state weather bureau Pagasa.

However, the suspension of voyages was lifted when TS “Kabayan” weakened into a tropical depression after it made a landfall in the Municipality of Manay, Province of Davao Oriental at 9:30 a.m. of December 18, 2023 and back to being a low pressure area at the vicinity of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon thereafter.

According to the PCG, 200 rolling cargos and 34 passenger vessels were not allowed to navigate. The Cebu Port Authority also closed gates that indicated suspension of operations.

The Local Government Unit of Cebu City accommodated 320 stranded passengers who took temporary shelter at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Over a hundred Boy Scouts who joined the 18th National Scouts Jamboree in Passi City, Province of Iloilo, and were bound for Surigao City, were among the stranded passengers taken care of at the CCSC.

The Cebu City Social Welfare and Development Office provided food and water to the stranded passengers, while the Department of Social Welfare and Development Regional Office provided for other basic needs. Modular tents were also pitched. 

Other passengers were accommodated at public school facilities in Cebu City such as in Barangay Mabolo and Barangay Tejero. 

Schedules of maritime voyages resumed in the early evening of December 18, 2023.

However, the resumption was only for vessels of gross tonnage exceeding 250.