Ship Accidents Philippines

Shipping sources said 1,490 people were listed as missing and feared drowned following the fiery collision of a passenger ship and an oil tanker Sunday night. Both vessels sank, officials said. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said at least 26 people were rescued as ships and planes rushed to the site of the accident south of the main Philippine island of Luzon. The collision between the 2,215-ton MV Dona Paz and the oil tanker MT Victor occurred about 10 p.m.

Seven more bodies were plucked from the sea in the Philippines today, bringing to 91 the number of fatalities in the country's latest maritime disaster. At least 70 people have been rescued after the overcrowded ML Annahada, overturned Wednesday, officials said.

A crowded Philippine ferry carrying more than 140 people--mostly students returning to school after the holidays--capsized, leaving 16 people dead and 12 missing, the coast guard said. Coast guard Lt. Edmund Lustre said the Jem II sank off Tablas Island on Tuesday afternoon when it was hit by big waves during a voyage from the Tablas port of Looc to neighboring Panay Island. Lustre said 114 people were rescued. He said the exact number of people aboard was not known.

A ferry that sank with 454 people on board was carrying heavy cargo that may have shifted in strong waves, causing the ship to tilt and then sink, the chief investigator said Sunday. Seventeen more people were rescued Sunday after spending more than a day in chilly, storm-whipped waters, bringing the number of survivors to at least 311, officials said. At least 39 people are confirmed dead. The Princess of the Orient sank during a storm Friday night.

A Philippine fishing boat with 30 people on board was reported missing Sunday in the South China Sea, the coast guard said.

Seven more bodies were plucked from the sea in the Philippines today, bringing to 91 the number of fatalities in the country's latest maritime disaster. At least 70 people have been rescued after the overcrowded ML Annahada, overturned Wednesday, officials said.

The Philippine ferry Dona Paz, which collided with an oil tanker last week, killing an estimated 1,600 people, was safe and not overloaded with passengers, a shipping company official told a board of inquiry Monday. "The boat had a permit from the Maritime Industry Authority. It was safe," said Vicente Gambito, vice president of Sulpicio Lines, which owned the ferry. He also said the ship was not carrying more passengers than its listed capacity of about 1,600.

Thousands of people whose relatives were victims of the doomed Philippine passenger liner Dona Paz rallied in a downtown Manila park Saturday appealing for government help in collecting compensation and retrieving bodies of the dead. More than 1,600 people died when the oil tanker Victor rammed the Dona Paz last Sunday, causing both vessels to sink after a fiery explosion. Only 26 survivors were found.

At least 55 people drowned when an overloaded ferry partially sank in heavy seas in the central Philippines, the coast guard reported Saturday. It said 77 people were rescued. The coast guard said the 35-ton Balangiga was sailing from the Samar Island port of Giporlos to Tacloban on Leyte Island when it sank early Friday some 400 miles southeast of Manila after being buffeted by high winds and rough seas.

A ferry that sank with 454 people on board was carrying heavy cargo that may have shifted in strong waves, causing the ship to tilt and then sink, the chief investigator said Sunday. Seventeen more people were rescued Sunday after spending more than a day in chilly, storm-whipped waters, bringing the number of survivors to at least 311, officials said. At least 39 people are confirmed dead. The Princess of the Orient sank during a storm Friday night.

Survivors of a Philippine passenger ferry that sank with 430 people aboard were being plucked from chilly, storm-whipped waters Saturday, while anxious relatives waited at a pier for two rescue ships. The Princess of the Orient tilted in stormy weather Friday, then quickly sank. At least 305 people had been brought safely ashore by today and 37 bodies recovered.

Rescuers battled heavy seas in search of survivors of a ship carrying 402 people that sank before dawn today in stormy waters south of Manila. The Philippine navy said it had confirmed that 136 people had been rescued from the Princess of the Orient, including 14 people who were picked up in very rough waters by a fishing boat. The owner of a seaside resort told a Manila radio station that his staff had sighted rescue boats off the coast shooting flares in the air.

An overloaded wooden ferry capsized when strong waves caused it to sway and panicked passengers ran to one side, officials said today. At least 51 people were confirmed dead, many of them children, and 15 were missing. The ship was carrying more than 200 people, twice its legal passenger capacity of 100, when it sank Sunday evening, coast guard officials said. The vessel was approaching Cadiz, 300 miles southeast of Manila, when the accident occurred.

Fishermen and navy frogmen found six more bodies Wednesday, bringing to 45 the number of people killed in a ferry fire. At least 31 people are still missing, maritime officials said. More than 200 passengers and crew members are believed to have been on the Viva Antipolo when the engine caught fire Tuesday shortly after midnight near Lucena City, 60 miles southeast of Manila. Some survivors say as many as 300 people were on the wooden-hulled ferry.

Rescuers gave up their search late Saturday for more bodies of people who were aboard a floating shrine that capsized in a fast-moving river and killed at least 315 people. Officials were unsure how many people were aboard the shrine, which was made up of three barges with a three-tiered altar and a huge crucifix. The shrine was part of the nine-day "Crucifix at the River" festival that celebrates a local legend of people seeing a miraculous cross.

A floating shrine packed with hundreds of worshipers sank Friday during rehearsals for a religious procession. Police said at least 141 people died. Officials were uncertain how many people were aboard the shrine, made of three barges with an altar and crucifix mounted on them. But Mayor Serafin dela Cruz estimated that about 300 people were on board. He said about 90 people were listed as missing.

Fishermen and navy frogmen found six more bodies Wednesday, bringing to 45 the number of people killed in a ferry fire. At least 31 people are still missing, maritime officials said. More than 200 passengers and crew members are believed to have been on the Viva Antipolo when the engine caught fire Tuesday shortly after midnight near Lucena City, 60 miles southeast of Manila. Some survivors say as many as 300 people were on the wooden-hulled ferry.

A Philippine fishing boat with 30 people on board was reported missing Sunday in the South China Sea, the coast guard said.

A crowded Philippine ferry carrying more than 140 people--mostly students returning to school after the holidays--capsized, leaving 16 people dead and 12 missing, the coast guard said. Coast guard Lt. Edmund Lustre said the Jem II sank off Tablas Island on Tuesday afternoon when it was hit by big waves during a voyage from the Tablas port of Looc to neighboring Panay Island. Lustre said 114 people were rescued. He said the exact number of people aboard was not known.