Tanker Blamed for Ferry Sinking, 2,000 Deaths

An unseaworthy oil tanker that was a “hazard to navigation” was responsible for the sinking of the ferry Dona Paz last Dec. 20 with the loss of at least 2,000 lives, a Philippine marine board of inquiry concluded Thursday.

A 69-page coast guard report blamed the 1987 disaster on the 630-ton oil tanker Vector, which collided with the passenger ship Dona Paz off Mindoro Island.

The Dona Paz was owned by Sulpicio Lines, whose passenger operations were suspended by the government Wednesday after another of its vessels, the Dona Marilyn, sank Oct. 24 during Typhoon Ruby, killing at least 76 people.

In the report, Pio Garrido, coast guard commandant, said a board of inquiry found the Vector at fault because it lacked qualified crew and equipment and had sailed without valid licenses.

“The operation of the MT Vector was not only risky but unlawful for want of the requisite licenses and certificates for her vessel and her officers,” the report said. “MT Vector and her registered owners are adjudged solely at fault and responsible for the collision.”

Sulpicio, which operates 22 passenger and cargo vessels, accounts for 20% of domestic sea traffic among the Philippines’ 7,200 islands.

The coast guard said the Vector, which was under contract to Caltex Philippines Inc., had a steering defect and sailed without a certificate of inspection. The ship had no radio operator and its radio license had expired nearly 18 months earlier, the report said.

It also found that the ship’s master, who was killed, did not have the required chief mate’s license and that there was no lookout on duty on the Vector’s bridge when the collision occurred.

Only 26 survived the collision, fire and sinkings, all but two from the Dona Paz. Because many passengers reportedly were not listed on the ship’s manifest, the number killed was impossible to determine. Estimates ran well over 2,000.

President Corazon Aquino’s order suspending Sulpicio came nine days after the 2,855-ton Dona Marilyn capsized and sank during Typhoon Ruby with about 500 people aboard.

As with the Dona Paz, it was difficult to determine the number of victims because of confusion over how many were aboard.

The Dona Marilyn sailed Oct. 23 from Manila. After it sank 300 miles southeast of Manila, 161 passengers and 39 crewmen were rescued. Sulpicio Vice President Vicente Gambito said at least 76 people were confirmed dead but only 54 bodies had been recovered.