700 Still Missing In Philippines Boat Disaster

[george]

Philippines typhoon capsizes boat, 700 missing

MANILA, Philippines: -- A group of 28 ferry passengers and crew washed ashore after drifting at sea for more than a day from the site where a typhoon capsized their ship and left most of the hundreds aboard missing and presumed dead, officials said Monday.

Manila's DZBB radio said the survivors, 20 male passengers, four women and four crewmen, drifted at sea for more than 24 hours wearing their lifejackets, reaching Mulanay township in eastern Quezon province late Sunday. Coast guard chief Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo announced early Monday that they had been found, raising the total number of survivors to 38. All were discovered after making it to land.

Tamayo said rescuers may have to bore a hole in the ship to allow divers access to area where many aboard the ferry were believed to have been trapped.

Coast guard frogmen who managed to get to the stricken ship got no response when they rapped on the hull with metal instruments, then had to give up late Sunday due to the strong waves. The ship carried more than 740 passengers and crew.

"They're scouring the area. They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted," coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Arman Balilo said.

Rescuers hoped to get inside with U.S. assistance requested by the Philippine Red Cross. Typhoon Fengshen has killed at least 163 people across the sprawling archipelago, setting off landslides and floods, and knocking out electricity.

Six bodies, including those of a man and woman who had bound themselves together, have washed ashore, along with children's slippers and life jackets.

About two dozen relatives went to the Manila office of ferry owner Sulpicio Lines. Some wept as they waited for news.

"I'm very worried. I need to know what happened to my family," said Felino Farionin, his voice cracking. His wife, son and four in-laws were on the ferry, which was going from Manila to Cebu.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo talked to officials in a teleconference aired live on nationwide radio Sunday, scolding coast guard officials for allowing the ferry to leave Manila late Friday despite the bad weather.

Reynato Lanoria, a janitor on the ship, estimated about 100 people could have survived, "but the others were trapped inside."

"I think they are all dead by now," he told DZMM radio after making it to shore by jumping in the water and reaching a life raft.

Lanoria said he was on the top deck when a crew member ordered people to put on life vests around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. About 30 minutes later, the ship began tilting so fast that elderly people and children fell on the rain-slickened deck.

Passenger Jesus Gica also worried that many people were trapped below when the ship listed.

"There were many of us who jumped overboard, but we were separated because of the big waves," he said. "The others were also able to board the life rafts, but it was useless because the strong winds flipped them over."

The ferry initially ran aground a few miles off central Sibuyan island Saturday, then capsized, said Mayor Nanette Tansingco of Sibuyan's San Fernando. With the upturned ferry visible from her town, she appealed for food, medicine and embalming fluid.

The nearly 24,000-ton ferry — with 626 passengers and 121 crew members on board — was "dead in the water" after its engine failed around noon Saturday, Tamayo said.

The storm stymied attempts to reach the ship and kept aircraft at bay on Saturday before shifting course Sunday to the northwest and battered Manila at dawn. Major streets were flooded, and numerous traffic lights were out.

In the central province of Iloilo, Gov. Neil Tupaz said 59 people drowned, with another 40 missing.

"Almost all the towns are covered by water. It's like an ocean," Tupaz said.

Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday he was praying for the victims of the ferry disaster, particularly the large number of children aboard. The Philippines is predominantly Catholic.

The typhoon-prone Philippines was the site of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry MV Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.

--AP 2008-06-23

[Palace]

The typhoon-prone Philippines was the site of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry MV Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.

--AP 2008-06-23

yeah, sad news from home.

incidentally, the owner of this distressed ship (Sulpicio Lines) was also the owner of that ill-fated ship which sank in 1987. this company have a long list of maritime disasters in RP. the M/V Dona Paz tragedy is a case of bad communication b/w sea crafts leading to a disastrous collision worsened by overloading. the former is a passenger liner with capacity of 1,500 filled up the brim up to an estimated 4,300+ and the other craft involved was an oil tanker. the collision ignited the gasoline cargo of the tanker and consumed the liner, sinking it.

in fairness though, the ship in the news this time was a fairly new one, only delivered 4 years ago and the company's flagship and biggest in its fleet, with capacity in excess of 2k+ while actual passengers on board during the accident was only around 700+.

the ship stalled after developing problems with its engines and was eventually buffeted by high waves, turning it upside down. latest pictures from news sites show the boat's belly still visible and floating, so there is a chance of survivors under it (ever seen the Poseidon movie?).

initially to blame here (according to news reports) is Phil Coast Guard for not trying hard enough to keep the ship from sailing despite a raging typhoon/cyclone/hurricane approaching central philippines at that time.

Edited June 23, 2008 by Palace

[george]

Hundreds believed dead inside Philippines ferry

MANILA: -- Dozens of bodies were found floating inside a capsized ferry in the Philippines Tuesday, crushing hopes that some of the hundreds of missing in one of the country's worst maritime tragedies could still be found alive.

Rescuers dove into turbulent seas to enter the hull of the MV Princess of the Stars three days after it sank off Sibuyan Island, 300 kilometres south of Manila, at the height of a typhoon.

The bodies, some wearing life vests, were floating entangled in cables and debris, said Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Inocensio Rosario, head of the rescue team in the area.

"One of the male cadavers was wearing a uniform and had a radio," he said. "He was probably an officer in the ship."

In one area of the ship, 15 cadavers were found in a cluster, he said.

The ghastly find prompted authorities to admit that the chances of finding any more survivors above the 68 already recovered were fading.

"It will be a miracle if we find more survivors," Rosario said.

The Princess of the Stars was carrying 864 passengers and crew members when it sank Saturday. Eighty-one of the passengers were children.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said the divers could not tell how many bodies were inside the sunken ferry, noting that it was too dark.

"They were trapped when the ship suddenly tilted and capsized," he said.

Noting that some of the bodies were wearing life vests, he added, "It seems the passengers hesitated from jumping into the turbulent waters. It happened too sudden."

The exact number of missing in the ferry sinking could not be determined.

While rescuers earlier reported recovering 68 survivors and 27 bodies, authorities said they were still verifying whether all were from the Princess of the Stars. Many of the survivors were in a state of shock or had to be hospitalized for injuries.

Dozens of fishing boats and ships were reported missing when Typhoon Fengshen pummelled the Philippines last week, killing nearly 300 people.

A US vessel with rescue helicopters and a surveillance aircraft were helping in the search.

Rescuers were planning to cut through the exposed bottom of the Princess of the Stars to speed up the search as angry relatives of those missing demanded more information.

But Coast Guard authorities said the plan had to be carefully laid out first to avoid spilling an estimated 100,000 litres of bunker fuel still on board.

The government has grounded all vessels of the Sulpicio Lines, which owns the ferry, pending an investigation into the accident.

The company's ships and ferries have been involved in some of the country's worst maritime disasters.

In 1987, its passenger ferry Dona Paz collided with an oil tanker just before Christmas, killing 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime shipping disaster.

In October 1988, another Sulpicio Lines ferry sank during a typhoon, killing 250 people. In 1998, another of the company's ships sank, leaving 70 dead and 80 missing.

-- dpa 2008-06-24