Princess wreck yields 5 more remains

MANILA, Philippines - Five more bodies were discovered in the wreck of the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars 20 months after the biggest inter-island vessel sank off Romblon, with at least 548 people confirmed dead, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday.

The PCG got information from Vener Balsamo, project engineer of the salvage operations of the ship’s new owner, Royal Jessan Petromin Resources Inc., that the skeletal remains were recently found in the economy section of the vessel’s main deck, specifically section deck C, starboard (right) side of the 23,000-gross-ton Princess of the Stars.

Only one of the remains yielded documents that could help in the identification.

“To the best of their capability, the salvors segregated the bones and placed them in separate cadaver bags. The cadavers are presently on board the salvor’s barge. We do not know yet their identities,” a PCG official said.

Princess of the Stars, owned and operated by Sulpicio Lines Inc., sank at least a nautical mile away from Sibuyan Island in Romblon on June 21, 2008 at the height of typhoon “Frank.”

The shipwreck was sold to Royal Jessan in late 2009, which has torn 32 percent of the vessel apart for scrap metal.