Retrieval of bodies from sunken ship to begin

MANILA, Philippines – Divers will start retrieving the bodies of the passengers and crew trapped inside the M/V Princess of the Stars tomorrow, according to Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Vice Admiral Wifredo Tamayo.

Tamayo said the Task Force-Princess of the Stars (TF-POTS) has originally set the date of the retrieval of the bodies, which is considered as the most important part of their search, rescue and retrieval operations, on Oct. 24.

There were more than 800 people on board the vessel and the PCG said at least 33 have survived, more than 200 have been confirmed dead and about 515 remain missing.

However, he said the TF-POTS, headed by Transportation Undersecretary for Maritime Transport Ma. Elena Bautista, has yet to meet and finalize their plans for phase 2.

They also have to consider the time to be allocated for the survey, before they actually extract the bodies from the ship.

Tamayo said it took the salvaging companies Titan Maritime Corp. and Harbor Star two days just to conduct the survey during the first phase, which was the removal of the toxic chemicals and bunker fuel from the capsized 23,000-gross ton vessel.

He said they would coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) to bring in more body bags.

The ship’s owner, Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI), would hire a barge to bring the bodies to Cebu, where a team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would be waiting to examine and identify the bodies.

The PCG, for its part, has kept three of its vessels on standby at Sibuyan Island to assist in retrieval operations.

The Princess of the Stars left the Port of Manila for Cebu at 7 p.m. of June 20.

Upon reaching Sibuyan Island of Romblon province at about noontime the next day, the vessel entered the eye of typhoon “Frank” and was met by strong winds and waves and heavy rain causing the ship to tilt by 40 degrees to port side (left side) and turn over completely.

The Princess of the Stars was said to be the biggest ship to have sailed domestic waters.