178 rescued as ship capsizes off Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines - A cargo-passenger vessel bound for Iloilo from Cebu listed and sank off the coast of Iloilo yesterday morning. All 178 people on board the ship were successfully rescued, a Coast Guard official said.

In a phone interview, Commodore Athelo Ybañez, Coast Guard-Western Visayas commander, said all passengers and crewmembers of M/V Asia Malaysia were safe and transferred to other ships and boats after its captain issued an abandon-ship order before the vessel sank.

Based on the ship’s master’s oath of safe departure, there were 107 passengers and 35 crewmembers. But as of yesterday afternoon, Ybañez said the number went up to 178 – 44 crewmembers and ancillaries, and 134 passengers.

Ybañez said the ship captain issued a distress signal and abandon-ship order at around 6 a.m. after the ship listed by 35 degrees on its starboard (right side) four nautical miles off Calabasas Island in Ajuy, Iloilo.

He said the passengers and crewmembers were rescued by boats and passing ships, including the M/V Filipinas Cebu of Cokaliong Shipping and M/T Fil Visayas.

Ybañez said 10 crewmembers, including the ship captain, stayed behind until they transferred to a lifeboat shortly before the ship sank at around 8:50 a.m.

The ship, operated by Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc., left Cebu at around 6 p.m. Saturday and was expected to arrive in Iloilo at 8 a.m. yesterday.

Ybañez said the ship listed after being hit by strong and big waves.

He said the Coast Guard was closely watching any possible oil spill in the area. He said though the fuel cargo of the vessel – said to be about 20,000 liters – was kept in closed containers and safely stored.

As of press time, Trans Asia Shipping Lines had yet to release an official statement on the incident.

Meanwhile, the weather bureau said the northern seaboard of northern Luzon, the western seaboards of central and southern Luzon and the eastern seaboard of the country would continue to experience rough to very rough seas. – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Alexis Romero, Jennifer Ponsaran-Rendon/Freeman