M/V Princess Of Star Sinking
845 Aboard During Typhoon
June 21, 2008
Everything that could wrong, did go wrong for the crew of the M/V Princess Of Star. The ship put out to sea in a Typhoon, lost engine power, then grounding in heavy seas and winds, ripping her hull, and finally sinking with over 800+ aboard.
Typhoon Fengshen, commonly known as Typhoon Frank, made landfall in the eastern Philippines early Saturday with top sustained winds of 110 mph pushing the 23,824-tonne lame duck Princess Of Star off course resulting in a grounding as the ship floating helplessly at sea.
The MV Princess of Stars' engine failed several kilometers off the central Philippine island of Sibuyan on Saturday during a regular run between Manila and Cebu City with a crew of about 130 and about 715 passengers aboard.
Last reports say the Princess Of Star capsized with hundreds of people aboard now unaccounted for after the vessel capsized in Romblon province. Twenty people have been confirmed dead and one crew member were rescued when the MV Princess of the Stars turned upside down. But, the death toll is expected to rise as the body count is growing by the hour.
Life jackets are washing ashore, with nobody in them, as the search continues for survivors. Hundreds are feared dead.
Some vessels tried to come to the rescue early on, but were pushed back by rough seas, and the rescue attempts had to be aborted.
Local officials described the ferry as "upside down with a hole in the middle", which began sinking Saturday night after leaving the Manila port for Cebu Friday night.
The Philippine Coast Guard has come under fire for allowing the plagued ship to set sail in waters churned by Typhoon Fengshen.
Princess Of The Star is owned by for Sulpicio Lines.
UPDATE: JUNE 22, 2008
Rescue crews are beginning to find survivors of this totally avoidable disaster. There are now 28 people who have been rescued after surviving the sinking.
They were found in a coastal village southeast of Manila. The survivors landed their lifeboat near the town of Mulanay in the Bondoc peninsula on Sunday, more than 24 hours after the Princess of the Stars capsized off Sibuyan island.
The survivors from this lifeboat say 30 people were originally in the lifeboat but two were lost at sea, including one man who was tossed overboard by a huge wave minutes before they landed.
Of the 28 survivors, 9 were crew members bring the total number of survivors to 32.
Family members of passengers and crew have flooded the ship line offices, demanding answers.
Latest information from Sulpicio Lines, the owner of the MV Princess of Stars, has revised numbers of people missing to 845 after discovering an extra 100 passengers on the ship's manifest.
Among those missing are the most precious cargo the ship held, a total of 20 children, 33 infants. Also among those thought to have went down went down with the ship were a high number of elderly took weak to jump overboard and survive the high seas.
One passenger said they had only 30 minutes notice before the ship listed heavily, many of the young jumped into the typhoon ravaged seas. She reported that the lifeboats that did launch, were very crowded.
Reynato Lanoria, a janitor on the ship, estimated about 100 people could have survived, "but the others were trapped inside."
The typhoon is one of he worst in the history of the Philippines. In Iloilo province, 228 people were reported dead after flood waters over two meters high engulfed communities, forcing tens of thousands to scramble onto the roofs of their homes with another 35,000 having evacuated.
"Iloilo is like an ocean. This is the worst disaster we have had in our history," Governor Neil Tupaz told local radio.
UPDATE: JUNE 23, 2008
A total of 38 survivors have made it to shore as of today. This leaves 817 stilll missing in one of the worst disasters at sea in history.
Rescue has still been hampered by rough seas, and a proper search effort for survivors has not really taken place. It could be another day before a mass search will begin. With the ship having sunk so close to shore, it hard to imagine that a better search effort could not have been launched. It is has become highly unlike any more than a few more survivors will be found.
Local officials say the over 800 missing were likely trapped in the ship. Divers sent to the ship knocked on the hull, and got no sign of life inside.
Some of the survivors said to be from The Princess Of The Star are actually from a cargo ship that also sunk, M/V Lake Paway, which departed from Mindanao during the storm.
Sulpicio Line is blaming the captain, saying they doubt there was an engine failure. Master Captain Florencio Marimon radioed a distress call shortly before lunch on June 21, that the ferry had run aground and was listing. Marimon did not say anything about engine failiure during his distress call, only that he had lost control of the ship, according to the line.
The line said that famliles of those who did not survive would be given compensation of P200,000. The 200,000 pesos converts to about $4,480 in U.S. dollars on June 23, 2008. The line says families have to prove they had a family member aboard and that they died.
This may not be easy for some. The mayor of island of Burias, Eduardo Andueza says when victims washed up on shore dead, or died after coming ashore, he had them buried.
Some of those dead could be from Princess Of The Star, others may be the cargo ship and fishing vessels that also sunk in the area during Typhoon Frank.
Transport Undersecretary Elena Bautista said Sulpicio Lines was responsible for the sinking of the ferry with more than 800 people on board, and all of its vessels would be suspended from sailing until further notice. Yet, the line continues to sell tickets.
Latest reports say that a coast guard official said the Princess of the Stars was cleared to leave for Cebu island shortly before the typhoon changed its course.
With the typhoon approaching, the captain was instructed to take shelter and "attempted to do that,'' the official said.
Still, with the Typhoon in the immediate area, and the seas churning, questions are being asked as to why the Coast Guard would clear a passengers vessel to leave port. The blame game begins with the government blaming the line, and the line blaming the captain and others blaming the coast guard.
It was the Sulpicio Line's fourth disaster at sea in the past two decades but despite a government order banning Sulpicio Lines from operating its 22 vessels, the company continued to sell tickets.
The Sulpicio Line's Doña Paz ferry collided with the oil tanker Vector on December 20, 1987. The death toll aboard the Doña Paz was 4,341 people killed, though the ship was only licensed to hold only 1,565 passengers.
The Vector, which was carrying 8,800 barrels of petroleum products that ignited and caused a fire that rapidly spread onto theDoña Paz. An inquiry later revealed that the crew of the Vector was under-qualified and that the boat's license had expired.
In other local news, a fishing vessel with 100 aboard is reported to have sunk during the storm in the same general area the Princess Of The Stars sunk. Only five survivors from that sinking have been found.
UPDATE: JUNE 26, 2008
Reports are now saying that 57 very lucky souls survived this disaster. Searchers continue to look for any other survivors with 70 confirmed dead. Divers are beginning to bring bodies up from the ship. They some had life jackets on, and some did not.
An inquiry has begun into the Princess of the Stars disaster and the coast guard station commander in Manila has been removed from his post while it proceeds.
It has now been confirmed the nine ships sunk during the typhoon, making it difficult to figure out which ship bodies belong to, as they wash up on shore, or are found floating on the sea.
