# Phillippines ferry sinks -merged threads



## John Briggs (Feb 12, 2006)

The following news item details the loss of yet another Philippines ferry.

MANILA - A ferry with at least 84 passengers and crew onboard sank on Saturday off the coast of central Philippines after a mechanical problem, and authorities said they were searching for at least 70 passengers who were still missing.

Three ships, including a foreign-registered liquefied petroleum gas carrier, rushed to the area where the ferry sank near the coast of Southern Leyte province and rescued 63 people, coastguard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo told Reuters.

An order to abandon the ship, MV Maharlika 2, was given at around 9:00 pm (1300 GMT) when it was buffeted by strong winds and huge waves hours after developing engine trouble in the late afternoon, he said.

"We have ongoing rescue operations," Balilo said. "We don't have any idea yet if there are casualties."

The ship's manifest listed 26 crew and 58 passengers, he said.

"At 5:30pm, we received a distress call that Maharlika 2 was dead on the water," Balilo said.

Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado told Reuters that authorities were verifying eyewitness reports that around 100 people boarded the ferry, more than the 84 people listed on the ship's manifest.

Scores, sometimes hundreds, of people die each year in ferry accidents in the Philippines, an archipelago of 7,100 islands with a notoriously poor record for maritime safety. Overcrowding is common, and many of the vessels are in bad condition.


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## Pompeyfan (Aug 9, 2005)

*Phillippines ferry sinks*

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29196687


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## richardwakeley (Jan 4, 2010)

This is one of the ro-ro ferries on the highway from Luzon to Mindanao, which includes two ferry crossings - this one is between Southern Leyte and Surigao. Expect mostly trucks and buses onboard, relatively few passengers.


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## billyboy (Jul 6, 2005)

Friend of mine traveled on this ship on 1993. He said it was pretty clapped out then.
Old ships with old fuel tanks and poor maintenance programs is a recipe for trouble. Over the years the fuel tanks collect a load of sediments. Ship rolls around....filters block....ship stops.
Although it is said that the steering gear failed and rumors of ingress of water.
Many of the ships here I wouldnt cross the harbour on.


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## ben27 (Dec 27, 2012)

good day pompeyfan.super moderator.yesterday.18:38.#2.re: phillipines ferry sinks.thank you for the informative link.regards ben27


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## billyboy (Jul 6, 2005)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2014/09/14/103-rescued-3-dead-leyte-ship-sinking-365440


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## richardwakeley (Jan 4, 2010)

G'day Billyboy,
Thanks for the link. Seems like the loss of life is not so much as originally speculated, maybe up to half a dozen, but I have been told the Chief Engineer is missing.
I looked up the old Maharlika Dos on Equasis, and surprised to find this is not one of the usual retired Japanese ferries, but was actually built at the old Baseco Shipyard in Mariveles, Bataan. It dates from 1984, Maharlika Uno is a sistership. Also it was not under the ownership and management of a private company but actually owned by the Philippine Government (DPWH). This probably explains it's rotten condition. Some of the companies in Cebu, like Cokialong Lines whose ferry Filipinas Maasin picked up a survivor, are actually quite well run. Although others are not! It's lucky that gas tanker Epic St. Martin was around to pick up most of the survivors - those small gas ships with very low freeboard are quite suitable for rescue.
Best rgds,
Richard.


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

A less unhappy outcome than we all, no doubt, feared.


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