Search for M/V Princess of the Stars victims to continue this weekend

MANILA, Philippines – The search for bodies still inside the capsized M/V Princess of the Stars would continue even during All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, an official of a salvaging firm said yesterday.

Harbor Star project manager Rodrigo Bella said they have decided that even if their 18 divers, including two foreign technical supervisors, have been engaged in physically, emotionally, and mentally tiring retrieval work for close to two months, they would forego the much-needed day off.

Bella said that Nov. 1 and 2 would be treated like regular working days.

“We would continue searching and removing the bodies even during the holidays. We are doing this for the families so that we would speed up the identification of the bodies,” he added.

He said that so far, it appeared that the relatives have heeded their call and there were only a few of them still waiting on Sibuyan Island.

“From the start, we have appealed to the families to just proceed to Cebu, and they have accommodated our request.”

Jordan Go, vice president for marketing of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI), said that they are thinking of making mass offerings in churches in Manila and Cebu during the weekend.

“This is to give respect to those who perished.”

However, he clarified that they are not planning on arranging a special mass for the victims of the June 21 maritime tragedy, but would just include their special intentions in ordinary mass offerings.

Bella said that as of 4 p.m. yesterday, the divers have completed combing through Deck C or the economy section of the ship and have recovered 80 bodies.

“Now, we could turn our attention to Deck B where the cabins are.”

He hinted at the possibility of completing the retrieval of the bodies a week ahead of schedule.

The firm had previously announced that it would take three weeks to finish the task, but this might be completed next week.

Retrieving operations started only last Oct. 26.

“In Deck C, we worked fast. We can finish next week. We might be able to cut our timetable by a week because we hardly see any bodies. This is also based on the video they have taken. But it is still too early to say and we might have to search some more,” Bella said.

The 23,000-gross-ton M/V Princess of the Stars left the Port of Manila for Cebu but sank at the height of typhoon “Frank.”

More than 800 people were on board the ferry. At least 33 survived, but over 200 have been confirmed dead, and 515 missing.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has put three of its ships on stand by to help in the search operations.

It has also kept its Marine Environmental and Protection Unit, Special Operations Group, and oil spill booms in the area as a precautionary measure.

PCG men have completed the recovery of toxic chemicals, including the hydrocarbons (bunker fuel) from the wreck.

But half a kilo of trap, 10 kilos of antracol, a liter of tamaron, and 6500 liters of hydrocarbons have not been recovered.

Titan and Harbor Star have certified that they have searched the vessel and can no longer retrieve the items.