700 missing after ferry capsizes

**Monseratto** · June 22nd, 2008 05:34 PM

The company that brought you the worst peactime maritime disaster comes another ferry tragedy...

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Only three survivors have been found after a ferry with more than 700 people onboard capsized near the central Philippine island of Sibuyan, according to a Philippines Coast Guard official on Sunday.

Relatives wait in Manila port Sunday for news; only three survivors have been rescued, officials said.

1 of 3 Four bodies have been found floating in the waters, a Coast Guard official said.

Only the boat's rear keel remained above water a mile offshore, officials said.

The first Coast Guard rescue ship arrived just before 2 p.m. (2 am ET), and divers immediately began their search for survivors. Two more rescue ships were on the way, officials said.

The crew of the MV Princess of Stars reported Saturday that it ran aground after its engine failed during its regular run between Manila and Cebu City, according to Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo.

The ferry was carrying 130 crew members and more than 600 passengers, officials said. Watch what's known about the ferry »

Radio contact with the ship was lost Saturday afternoon, and rough seas stirred up by Typhoon Fengshen slowed efforts to reach the ferry. The typhoon made landfall in the eastern Philippines early Saturday (late Friday ET).

The news came as the death toll climbed to at least 80, most of them in the central province of Iloilo, with another 40 missing, The Associated Press cited its governor, Neil Tupaz, as saying.

Typhoon Fengshen was reported to have top sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph), although the storm lost strength after moving ashore. Philippine officials said at least 17 people had been killed by landslides and rising waters caused by the storm.

Fengshen is still moving across the Philippines, dumping *******ial rains fueled by 75 mph (120 kph) winds as it pushes toward Manila, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/as...rry/index.html

**Monseratto** · June 22nd, 2008 05:37 PM

Survivors tell how they escaped tragedy off Romblon

MANILA, Philippines - The four survivors of the ill-fated MV Princess of Stars on Sunday granted interview with media and relayed how they survived the mishap off Sibuyan Island amid the rage of typhoon "Frank" (Fengshen).

The four, who were interviewed by a radio station, were initially identified as Jesus Gica of Mandaue City, Oliver Amorin of Lapu-Lapu City, Jessie Buot of Siquijor, and Renato Lanorio of Bantayan Island in Cebu.

According to crew member Lanorio, the ship did not malfunction, but only slowed down its speed as it encountered big waves off the Romblon coast. He said the ferry reached Sibuyan at about 7 a.m., Saturday. Fifteen minutes before noon, Lanorio said the captain told them to abandon ship.

"Yong dalawa kong kasama di ko na nakita ( I was not able to find my two companions)," Lanorio said.

Gica confirmed Lanorio's story, and said the passengers, many wearing life vests, jumped off the ferry.

"Marami kaming tumalon. Malaki ang alon, malakas ang ulan (There were many of us who jumped. The waves were big. The rains were strong)," Gica said, adding that he heard a member of the ship crew shouting only once to passengers to wear their vests.

He said he saw some of the passengers who passed out, and also children and the elderly who failed to wear life vests because they could no longer move to save themselves while the ship was turning upside down.

"Naiwan sa ilalim ang matatanda (Old people were left underneath)," he said.

Gica also said some of the passengers rode "life crafts," but he thought they failed to make it because of the big waves that battered the small vessels.

The ferry reportedly carried 702 passengers and 121 crew members. Of the 823 people, 45 passengers were reportedly minors.

Gica told his family not to worry anymore. "Dito ako, buhay ako. Di ako pinabayaan ng Diyos... (I'm here, I'm alive. God took care of me)." - GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/102623/S...dy-off-Romblon

**Monseratto** · June 22nd, 2008 05:39 PM

Survivor: ‘I could hear children wailing as the boat sank’

LEGAZPI CITY -- More than 700 passengers and 169 crew members of the M/V Princess of the Stars of the Sulpicio Lines, which capsized west of Sibuyan island town, were still unaccounted for as of Sunday afternoon and were feared dead, authorities said.

This developed as four injured survivors were found in the remote village of Mabini in San Fernando, Romblon, after four hours of being swept away at sea on a life boat.

Lamorias, in a mobile phone interview, said he could not forget the hundreds of unconscious bodies floating at sea and the reverberating cries from the victims.

"There were many children trapped inside the boat. I could hear them wailing before the boat sank," Lamorias said.

He remembered hitting his face on a rock, when he was in the sea.

He said the overturned ferry had totally sunk at around 11:45 a.m. Sunday.

Lamorias, who seemed to be in a state of shock, recounted that strong winds and big waves caused the ferry boat to capsize.

He said the lashing that tucked the cargo was torn, which probably affected the balance of the ship while it was being smashed by strong winds and big waves.

"Ang mga alon halos kasing laki ng bundok (The waves were almost the size of a mountain)," Lamorias said in a shaky voice.

"At around 10 a.m. the ship slowed down and started to dance. I noticed that it was running tilted," he added in Filipino.

Lamorias said when the ship's captain announced "abandon ship," many hysterical passengers jumped off the sinking boat.

He said all 14 lifeboats of the Princess of the Stars were let down but big waves still engulfed some of them.

"We were on a life boat for four hours before we reached Barangay Mabini," Lamorias said in-between coughs.

Tansingco said most of the survivors had contusions all over the body and lacerations in the head.

The passenger vessel left the port of Manila at 8 p.m. on Friday and was on its way to Cebu when it sent a distress signal to report "engine trouble" and "listing," chief petty officer Benito Vidal of the Southern Tagalog Coast Guard Station said, quoting reports they received Saturday at 12:55 p.m.

"The national headquarters said there were 626 passengers and 121 crew members aboard the boat," he said.

Other reports, however, placed the number of passengers at 702.

On Sunday, Vidal said they received reports that the boat, sunk "seven nautical miles, north-southwest of Sibuyan Island, Romblon."

Vidal said they had yet to receive reports regarding the current condition of the sunk ferry, or the actual cause of its sinking, although, he said, if the ferry was reported listing, that would usually mean the boat really had a hole that was taking in water.

He said they had yet to establish contact with the deployed rescue boats.

No reports on casualties or sea conditions around Romblon have been received, although Vidal said Batangas sea conditions were calm.

The Coast Guard deployed a boat each from Cebu, Batangas and Manila on the ongoing search and rescue operations for the sunk Sulpicio Lines vessel.

According to the Sulpicio Lines website, the M/V Princess of the Stars is a passenger-cargo vessel, weighing around 23,824 tons and able to accommodate around 1,992 people.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakin...-the-boat-sank

**russpogi** · June 22nd, 2008 08:45 PM

Di ba marunong magbasa or manood ng news ang Sulpicio Lines? Alam naman nila na may bagyo, sige pa din ang larga! Kawawa naman mga biktima ng trahedyang ito. Let us all continue to pray that most would survive this unfortunate incident and I sincerly hope that ma-rescue sila at the soonest possible time.

**Isuzoom** · June 22nd, 2008 09:26 PM

they never learn.....

**Monseratto** · June 22nd, 2008 09:44 PM

Eeekkk...naging "Poseidon Adventure" yung eksena...

Official: Hundreds may be trapped in capsized ferry

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Filipino authorities hope that 749 people missing after their ferry capsized in a typhoon are still alive inside an air pocket, the head of the country's Red Cross said Sunday.

"It's a race against time," said Sen. Richard Gordon, who is head of the Philippines Red Cross.

"There is a bubble in the ship's bowels that are now on top of the surface of the water, and we are now trying to get assistance from our own government to get divers down into the vessel as soon as the seas calm," he said.

Typhoon Fengshen has killed between 120 and 150 people in the Philippines, he said, noting that he has not heard from Red Cross chapters in the country's remote areas.

The Filipino government may ask the U.S. Navy to send in seaborne helicopters and divers who can help "recover people who may be alive under the ship," Gordon said.

The crew of the MV Princess of Stars reported Saturday that it ran aground after its engine failed during its regular run between Manila and Cebu City, according to Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo.

Radio contact with the ship was lost Saturday afternoon, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Armando Balilo said.

The ferry capsized near the central Philippine island of Sibuyan, carrying 130 crew members and more than 600 passengers, Gordon said. Only four survivors and 10 bodies have been found, he said.

The effort to reach the ferry has been slowed by rough seas stirred up by Typhoon Fengshen, which made landfall in the eastern Philippines early Saturday.

The ferry, which can weather rough seas, embarked during "Typhoon signal No. 1," which indicated there was no impending danger, Gordon said.

"But unfortunately the typhoon suddenly turned and it [became] Typhoon signal No. 3, which has now created a really, really bad problem," he said. "After that, I think the ship ran into some problems -- we're not sure about that yet -- and it drifted to seashore, ran aground and eventually capsized."

The families of the ferry passengers are "very bitter about the situation," he said.

"Obviously there's a lot of angry people among the ship's families, and I just spoke with them," he said, adding that he told grieving relatives that the Red Cross is there to "alleviate human suffering and we're doing our best right now to try to get that done."

"But we still have to reckon with the fact that the typhoon is still ravaging central Luzon."

Typhoon Fengshen was reported to have top sustained winds of 110 mph, though the storm lost strength after moving ashore.

Fengshen is still moving across the Philippines, dumping *******ial rains fueled by 75 mph winds as it pushes toward Manila, according to the Filipino Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/as...rry/index.html

**yapoy86** · June 22nd, 2008 09:52 PM

una kasi forecast ng PAGASA hindi daw tatama yung bagyo sa Philippine Islands... napanood ko pa sa news ito ni Kuya Kim sa kanyang weather report.. then next day eh direct hit na daw yung typhoon sa atin...

sa tingin ko may pagkukulang din ang government natin.. hindi na dapat ito pinayagan ng Coast Guard na maglayag....but possible eh nag base din sila sa report ng PAGASA kaya binigyan ng clearance.. inabot lang talaga sila sa laot..

**Memphis Raines** · June 22nd, 2008 10:09 PM

Sulpicio Lines should have their passenger shipping license revoked

How the heck did they get clearance from the coast guard to sail?

Why didn't the captain decide to turn back, away from the storm?

R.I.P to the children who perished. Let's hope that most of them are still alive in that possible 'air pocket'

.

**sidewayz** · June 22nd, 2008 11:22 PM

oh my god... dapat dyan sa sulpicio lines i-pasara na kawawa naman yung mga bata! dapat itawag dyan perwisyo lines. kahit na! dapat pag me bagyo kahit nde pa tumama sa exact location dapat i cancel lahat. dahil delikado talaga. biruin mo 700 tao tsk tsk