Death toll in Cebu ship collision hits 71

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported yesterday that the death toll in the sinking of ferry M/V St. Thomas Aquinas had reached 71 even as big waves hampered efforts to contain the oil leak from the sunken vessel.

PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said 71 bodies have been recovered, 49 others remained missing and 750 survivors were rescued when the ferry sank after it collided with the cargo ship M/V Sulpicio Express 7 last Aug. 16 off Cordova, Cebu.

The passenger and cargo vessel St. Thomas Aquinas was carrying 120,000 liters of bunker fuel, 20,000 liters of lube oil and 20,000 liters of diesel.

Traces of oil have already reached the shorelines of 11 barangays in Cordova.

Members of the PCG Marine Environment Protection Unit (MEPU) and Army troops have been removing oil from the beach.

Balilo said bad weather yesterday also hampered the diving operations to recover bodies trapped inside the wreckage.

The divers suspended operations at around 9 a.m.

Balilo said MEPU workers have difficulty containing the oil leaking from the 11,405-gross ton ship settled about 108 feet underwater.

“We received reports that the wave height was about three-four meters in Cebu, which made it difficult for our personnel to lay down the oil spill boom around the sunken ship. We might have to resort to dispersants to neutralize the oil,” said Balilo.

Divers from the PCG, Philippine Navy (PN), PCG Auxiliary and technical divers and volunteers recovered six more bodies – four female adults, one male child and one female child.

The M/V St. Thomas Aquinas was reportedly carrying 870 passengers and crew when it sank.

Authorities expect to find more bodies trapped inside the vessel but extraction operations have been difficult due to the obstacles that include bags, metal sheets and fragments inside the cabins.

The St. Thomas Aquinas came from Butuan City and was headed to Cebu, while the 9,691-gross ton Sulpicio Express 7 was en route to Davao when the collision occurred at about 8:45 p.m.

The PCG will convene Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) to investigate the mishap.

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) will conduct a separate investigation to determine criminal liability and find out if the certificate of public convenience (CPCs) and franchise of the concerned ship owners should be revoked.

Navy 1st Seaman Radarman Richard Pestillos, who was on escort duty aboard the St. Thomas Aquinas, witnessed the collision as he was on his way to the passenger cabin on the upper deck after conducting the paneling of cargoes and passengers in the lower deck.

“Just completed my paneling round at the lower deck and when I proceeded to the upper deck, I was alarmed to see an incoming cargo vessel, sailing on the wrong side of the channel, hitting the starboard of our vessel,” Pestillos said.

He said less than 10 minutes after impact, the ship went down with hundreds of passengers jumping into the dark water as the doomed vessel lost power and electricity, apparently due to engine failure caused by the impact.

Pestillos’ account of the mishap is now the subject of an inquiry being conducted by Marina, where the skippers of the two vessels have already filed their respective statements blaming each other for the tragedy.

To his credit, Pestillos, whose duty is to ensure the safety of passengers and ship from would-be saboteurs aboard, could have swam to safety and just be counted among the survivors, but he did not leave the passengers.

While distributing life jackets to the passengers, Pestillos was hit by a life raft at the back and was thrown into the water where, despite the darkness, he was able to save two children and five adults.

While Pestillos survived even with a back injury and without a life jacket, one of his civilian K9 security partners, Ryan Espenada, died.

Maritime code

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said the Philippines is not part of the 1972 Convention on International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG), which he said is the most basic treaty that any flag state must ratify.

Baguilat said the country is not a signatory to the COLREG and also has no legislation to prevent sea disasters. – With Jaime Laude, Paolo Romero