|
SULPICIO
Lines Inc.’s flagship vessel sank off Sibuyan Island in
Romblon province on Saturday noon with most of its more
than 700 passengers still missing, in the company’s
worst sea disaster in a decade.
The
tragedy, however, is only the latest in a long line of
sea accidents involving the shipping firm, underscoring
the crucial need for regulating ocean traffic in an
archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.
MV
Princess of the Stars, which sank at the height of
Typhoon Frank which lashed Luzon and the Visayas and
parts of Mindanao at the weekend, was built in Japan in
1984 with 23,824 gross registered tonnage and a
passenger capacity of 1,992. It was acquired by Sulpicio
Lines in the mid- 1990s and the company has been using
it since then.
In
September 18, 1998, Sulpicio’s M/V Princess of the
Orient, sailing from Manila to Cebu, capsized at 12:55
p.m. near Fortune Island in Batangas. Of 388 passengers
on board, 150 perished. Passengers were floating at sea
for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to
reach survivors.
Sulpicio
also owns the world’s worst peacetime shipping
tragedy—when M/V Dona Paz collided with the tanker M/T
Vector in 1987, killing 4,341.
M/T
Vector, owned by Vector Shipping, Inc., at that time was
on a charter voyage for Caltex Philippines, now Chevron.
Another
Sulpicio vessel, M/V Dona Marilyn, sank a year later,
killing around 250 passengers. In 2005, Sulpicio’s M/V
Princess of the World caught fire while at sea, but no
injuries were reported.
According to reports from the Coast Guard, the M/V
Princess of the Stars was bound from Manila to Cebu,
carrying 626 passengers and 212 crew members; it
capsized hours before its arrival at the port of Cebu.
Coast
Guard Chief Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said they
allowed the vessel to leave the port of Manila at around
8 p.m. on Friday, at the time when typhoon Signal 1
hovered Metro Manila.
By the
time Signal 3 was raised in Manila on the same night at
around 11.30 p.m., Sulpicio’s vessel was already
coasting along the Visayas area, he said.
The
Coast Guard normally bars smaller to medium-sized
vessels from sailing between typhoon signals one and
two, but all sizes of vessels are barred from sailing
when Signal 3 is raised.
Maritime
Industry Authority administrator Vicente T. Suazo Jr.,
on the other hand, said that they have not yet sent
their team to investigate.
“Because
of weather condition, they (Marina team) haven’t left
yet but tomorrow most likely,” Suazo said in a text
message.
Marina
has delegated most of its ship inspection functions to
the Coast Guard, but the agency, along with the Coast
Guard, will still investigate in cases of sea mishaps.
|
