Sunken M/V Princess to be lifted off Sibuyan

MANILA, Philippines - The plans for the wreck removal of the M/V Princess of the Stars, the 23,000 gross ton ship that has been surbmerged in the waters of Sibuyan Island for the last 13 months, have been made and the divers are already in place, but bad weather reportedly prevents the salvaging firm from going full blast with its operation.

But PCG-Marine Safety Services (MSS) deputy chief of staff Commander Allan de la Vega yesterday said that plans for the phase three or wreck removal of M/V Princess of the Stars has been approved two weeks ago, but until yesterday the salvaging firm, CV Gaspar Salvage and Lighterage Corp. has made little progress because of the weather woes. “Gaspar has already deployed some of its equipment, personnel and divers in the area but the progress of their operations has been slow because of the bad weather. From June to September, the waters of the Sibuyan Island is vulnerable because of the hangin habagat (southwest monsoon),” said Dela Vega. “We are really dependent on the weather. They make day-to-day plans.”

Oftentimes the waters in the area are rough and they would only be endangering the lives of the divers if they continued with their operations because of the strong underwater current. The POTS Task Force, the ship’s new owner Royal Jessan Petromin Resources, Inc. as well as Gaspar are hoping that the weather would improve by October when there is already a northeast monsoon or (hangin amihan). He recalled that the previous salvor company, Harbor Star, that conducted the removal of the chemicals and retrieved the bodies from the ship, accomplished majority of its works in October last year. 

The agreed plan was for Gaspar to simultaneously remove all the cargoes and check for remaining bodies from the ship. Only 33 of the passengers and crew have survived, 548 have been confirmed dead and 283 others remain missing. They would then conduct underwater cutting of some of the superficial structures such as the flagpole. They would then seal all the openings, pump out the water, so the ship would float.

“They might have to use flotation equipment and a crane to refloat the ship. The vessel would be turned to its upright position before it would be towed to RJPRI’s shipyard in Navotas where it would be torn apart,” the PCG official added.

It can be recalled that M/V Princess of the Stars left the port of Manila on June 20, 2008 for its voyage to Cebu. However, just before noontime the next day, upon reaching Sibuyan Island off Romblon province, it entered the eye of typhoon Frank and was met by strong winds and waves and heavy rain that caused the ship to tilt by 40 degrees to its port side (left side) and turned over completely.

The M/V Princess of the Stars, which is said to be the biggest ship to have sailed the domestic waters, was sold by Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) to RJPRI late last year.

The previous salvor company Harbor Star, hired by SLI, terminated phase two that covered the search and recovery operations of the bodies Nov. 10. The firm removed the 400 drums of endosulfan and toxic chemicals such as the hydrocarbons (bunker fuel) from the vessel. The following have not been recovered – half a kilo of trap, 10 kilos of antracol, one liter of tamaron and 6,500 liters of hydrocarbon.