A ferry with more than 340 people onboard sank early Monday in choppy seas off Basilan, killing at least 18 and leaving 10 still missing, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
Search-and-rescue efforts were expected to continue through the night, Philippine Coast Guard spokeswoman Noemie Cayabyab said, adding that an earlier tally of passengers had been reduced to 344 as some on the ship’s manifest never boarded.
The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 issued a distress signal around 1:50 am, a bit over four hours after it departed the Port of Zamboanga City, the PCG said.
Video released by Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman showed barefoot survivors being wrapped in blankets and placed on gurneys, while victims of the sinking were carried past in body bags.
The triple-decker vessel went down on nearly the same route where 31 people died in 2023 after a fire aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3 ferry.
Both ships were owned by locally based Aleson Shipping Lines.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development to immediately assist the victims, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said.
DSWD’s field office in Zamboanga Peninsula has provided ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes and psychosocial support to the survivors of the ill-fated ferry.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Monday said he ordered regional director Riduan Hajimuddin to continue assessing the situation and prepare for additional aid, including medical assistance for injured passengers and burial support for families who lost their loved ones at sea.
Sheryl Balondo, a rescuer in Isabela City, one of two municipalities where survivors were being taken, said their office had received more than 100 phone calls from concerned family members.
“There’s a tug in our hearts whenever we pick up a call. Their voices sounded worried,” she said. “What we can only say is that, as of now, we don’t have the final list (of names), because the search and retrieval operation is ongoing.”
The 44-metre ferry went down about five kilometers east of Baluk-Baluk Island, part of the Basilan province chain of islands off the Zamboanga peninsula.
“Based on the account of some survivors, the waters in the area were rough at the time,” Cayabyab said in a televised interview.
At least two survivors disputed that account, saying the seas had been calm when the ship capsized.
“I hope they investigate this, because we did not have bad weather. Why did it sink when there was no storm?” asked Jun Guro, a lawyer whose interview was posted by the Isabela City government in Basilan.
Only moments before the ship sank, Kyle Punsalang, a recent graduate of a maritime academy, sent his brother a text he would share on Facebook.
“Our boat is tipping over,” Punsalang said. “Please help.”
Basilan emergency responder Ronalyn Perez told Agence France-Presse that rescuers were struggling to handle the influx of survivors.
“The challenge really is the number of patients that are coming in. We are short-staffed at the moment,” Perez said in an interview, adding that at least 18 had been brought to one local hospital.
Video released by the PCG showed survivors being plucked from the water and receiving medical attention.
Some could be heard shouting for help in the dark in a live video on Facebook.
“We cannot say for now the reason for the sinking, but we were instructed to conduct a marine casualty investigation to determine the cause,” Romel Dua, a coast guard commander from southern Mindanao, told Agence France-Presse. “As of now, we are focused on the rescue.”
Survivors were being brought to the coast guard stations in Zamboanga and Isabela City, he added.
In its statement, the coast guard said the ferry had not been overloaded.
“Our thoughts and hearts are with everyone who was on board,” Aleson Shipping Lines said in a statement, adding they were “working tirelessly” in close coordination with the coast guard.
Philippine industry regulator the Maritime Industry Authority said later it had “dispatched an investigation team to determine the probable cause or any factors that may have contributed to the incident.”
The Philippines has a long history of disasters involving the inter-island ferries that ply its seas.
Many rely on cheap and poorly regulated boats and ships for transport between the country’s more than 7,000 islands, despite regular accidents.
A 2015 ferry capsizing off the western coast of Leyte Island resulted in more than 60 deaths.
In 1987, the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker in a pre-Christmas accident that claimed more than 4,000 lives. It was the world’s worst peacetime disaster at sea.
Japan and Australia expressed their sympathies to the families of those affected by the ferry sinking.
“My heartfelt sympathies go out to all those affected by the sinking of the M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 ferry in the southern Philippines. Japan stands with you during these difficult times and hopes for the swift rescue and recovery of the passengers and crew members,” Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya said.
Australian Ambassador Marc Innes-Brown said: “Our thoughts are with those killed and injured, as well as their loved ones, following the ferry sinking in the southern Philippines. Our deepest condolences.” With AFP
