Boat sinks; 23 dead, 31 missing

TUGUEGARAO CITY – At least 23 people were confirmed dead while 31 remained missing after a ferry boat plying the Calayan-Aparri route capsized Sunday evening reportedly due to overloading.

Senior Superintendent Moro Lazo, Cagayan police director, identified the capsized boat as the M/B Mae Jan owned by Aimee Arellano, one of the fatalities.

Of the nearly 100 passengers, 44 were rescued. Some of them are now with the Ballesteros police for proper accounting and post-trauma counseling while the others have been temporarily housed at a dormitory for further medical attention.

The weather was good when the boat left the island town of Calayan at 8 a.m. Sunday. It was expected to dock at the Aparri port at around 4 p.m. but the weather turned bad when it was within the vicinity of where the South China Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the Cagayan River converge.

“At around 10:30 p.m. (Sunday), we notified our stations in Aparri and Ballesteros towns and the 1st and 2nd Police Provincial Mobile Group to locate survivors and conduct rescue operations based on reports of Mayor Joseph Llopis of Calayan,” Lazo said.

Police and other government agencies are still conducting search and rescue operations for the missing passengers.

Initial reports had also said the banca containing nearly 100 passengers capsized due to the big waves and strong current while on its way to the Aparri port, some three hours from this capital city.

The fatalities include Arellano and her daughter Abella, Calayan town councilor Wilfredo Agatao, Angel Suarez, Leonardo Llopis, Angela Tabo, Ofelia Balnes, Paz Escalante, Karen Fadero, Kristine Cangas, Eva Llopis, Bella Llopis, Asela Tamboa, Ralaine Allado and Marilou Menor.

An unidentified one-year-old boy was also one of the casualties.

Among those who survived was the ship’s master Captain Dami Tan.

Maximum of 50 people

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said based on the Ship Safety Certificate issued by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), the vessel was only allowed to carry 40 passengers and 10 crewmembers or a total of 50 people.

Initial investigation reaching the PCG head office showed that the passenger-cargo 28.05-gross ton Mae Jan was owned and operated by Aimee Tan Arellano of Calayan.

The vessel is 21 meters in length, three meters in width and 1.8 meters in depth.

To reach its port of destination, the wooden-hulled ship with outriggers has to travel approximately eight hours.

Under normal conditions, it should have arrived in Aparri at 6 p.m. but due to the weather disturbance in the area, the ship sank some 50 meters away from the shoreline of Barangay Pallok, Ballesteros past 8:30 p.m. 

The PCG was alerted about the incident before 12 midnight.

Some of those rescued were brought to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Ballesteros.

The PCG, along with the assistance of the ship owner, local government units, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Army, has sent ships to help in the search and rescue operations.

Tamayo admitted that they do not have a PCG detachment in Calayan Island and the ship captain reportedly had no one to submit his master’s oath of safety departure (MOSD) that is part of the standard operating procedure before it sets sail.

But the Vice Admiral explained that the PCG only has 5,000 personnel and this figure is not enough to cover the 7,107 islands of the Philippines.

He said shipping firms and their captains should also be very responsible and truthful and stay within the allowed number of passengers.     

It was also learned that not all of the passengers were wearing life vests.

Tamayo said there should also be a notice on the ship informing passengers of the allowable number of people on board. The contact number of the Marina should also be posted, he said.

He added that the public had long been advised to send text messages to Marina if they believe the vessel is violating safety regulations.

“These ship owners and boat captains, when will they learn. Safety should start from them,” Tamayo said.

He has instructed the Northern Luzon District under Captain Athelo Ibañez to convene the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SMBI) to investigate the cause of the accident.

They are now contemplating on filing appropriate administrative charges and criminal charges against the shipping company depending on the results of the board inquiry.

The capsizing was the latest in a string of maritime accidents to hit the country.

The state weather bureau has warned of an approaching storm from the Pacific with winds of up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour.

But tropical storm “Dolphin” (Ulysses) was still away from the eastern Philippines and no alert was issued for ships to stay in port.

Last month, at least 42 people died when a ferry was hit by a freak whirlwind in central Philippines. One person died in a separate incident late in the month.

In June, the 23,000-ton M/V Princess of the Stars, carrying 850 passengers and crew, capsized after hitting a reef off the central island of Sibuyan at the height of typhoon “Frank.”

Tropical storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations are often the cause of sea accidents in the sprawling Philippine archipelago.

Passengers panicked

Senior Inspector Alex de los Santos said passengers jumped into the cold water after strong waves broke the ferry’s bamboo outrigger, causing it to bob wildly.

“They panicked and grabbed anything like water containers that will keep them afloat then jumped off the boat,” De los Santos said.

Hours before the ferry capsized, three children fell into the sea as the vessel was lashed by huge waves, Calayan Mayor Joseph Llopis said. Two of the children were plucked alive, but it was not clear if they survived the final capsizing, said Llopis, who lost 10 of his relatives in the disaster.

De los Santos said coast guard and navy vessels, backed by air force helicopters, were searching for 31 people still missing, but bad weather was hampering the effort.

He said most of the 44 survivors swam to shore in Aparri, where police and villagers found them shivering close to midnight.

The accident was especially tragic because many of the passengers from his town of 17,000 people were traveling to Aparri to buy food and other goods ahead of Christmas, Llopis said.

Many Filipinos are forced to rely on poorly maintained ferries —usually just large motorboats with outriggers —as the main form of transport between islands.

Rescue team

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said an 11-man navy team composed of eight sailors, two Marines and their officer headed for Aparri with life-saving equipment.

“The navy rescue team was tasked to assist in the search and rescue or retrieval of the victims in the sea mishap,” Arevalo said.

Four other navy sailors flew to the area yesterday aboard an Air Force UH-1H helicopter to conduct aerial search on the scene of the tragedy.

Arevalo said they are hoping that the missing passengers were able to swim to the shoreline.

The mode of transportation from Calayan to the mainland is via the so-called lampitaw, a double-engine wooden hulled boat.

Travel time from Calayan to the mainland, either to Aparri or Claveria, usually takes eight to 10 hours in fine weather and 10 to 16 hours if the sea is rough.

A passenger boat sailing from Aparri to Calayan or vice versa has an option to take shelter at Camiguin island, an island barangay halfway between Cagayan and Aparri.

On the other hand, a Claveria-bound lampitaw can also take shelter in case of emergency at Fuga Island.

Average passenger capacity of an ordinary lampitaw is from 30 to 60 excluding four to five crewmembers and the boat skipper and other loads such as merchandise and supplies like kerosene. - With Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jaime Laude, AP