Princess of the Stars
The capsized ship on June 25, 2008
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The Princess of the Stars was a ferry of the Philippine shipping company Sulpicio Lines , which ran aground and sank in the Sibuyan Sea during Typhoon Fengshen on June 22, 2008 en route from Manila to Cebu City . The scene of the accident is off the island of Sibuyan ( Romblon province ) near the city of San Fernando within sight of the coast. At the time of the accident, there were more than 850 people on board, of which only 56 survived. On June 27, the recovery of the bodies had to be interrupted because there were 10 tons of endosulfan on board and the highly toxic pesticide endangered the health of the divers.
The ship was built in 1984 under the hull number 2904 by the Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Company in Aioi , Japan and was initially in service for the Japanese shipping company Shin Nipponkai for around 10 years under the name Lilac . In 2004 the ferry was sold to the Philippines and renamed the Princess of the Stars by the new owner Sulpicio Line . The ship was the largest of the Sulpicio Lines and was considered quite modern by Filipino standards. It was approved for 1,992 people and measured with 23,824 gross tons. After the accident there were mutual allegations of guilt. The shipping company Sulpicio Lines sued the state weather service PAGASA for incorrectly forecasting weather conditions. PAGASA, however, rejects this accusation; the storm was correctly predicted, only Sulpicio Lines insisted on the ship leaving as scheduled . Also on the part of the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegations were made to the port authority and the coast guard, why the ship was given permission to leave the safe port of Manila despite typhoon warnings.
On August 25, 2008, a five-person investigative commission from the Philippine Board of Marine Inquiry submitted a 65-page report. She comes to the conclusion that Sulpicio Lines and the captain of the Princess of the Stars, who died in the accident, are to blame for the accident. The captain had misjudged the situation and continued the voyage undeterred despite the approaching typhoon.
The accident occurred almost exactly 10 years after the sinking of the MV Princess of the Orient , also a ship of the Sulpicio Lines, which sank in September 1998 on the same route.
See also
Other shipping accidents in the waters of the Philippines since 1945:
- Mactan 1973
- Dona Paz 1987
- Cebu City 1994
- SuperFerry 14 2004
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ The ferry daily mirror is examined for traces of poison
- ↑ www.wrecksite.eu: Princess of the Stars , accessed May 30, 2011
- ↑ allheadlinenews.com Philippines allow Sulpicio Lines to continue business operations under strict supervision ( Memento from September 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ GMA News: Investigation Report (Eng.)
- ↑ AFP: Investigation puts the captain and company to blame for the ferry accident ( Memento from December 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )