Ferry death toll rises to 45

TUGUEGARAO CITY – Rescue workers retrieved 14 more bodies at the wreckage site of the ill-fated motorized boat that capsized off Aparri, Cagayan on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 45 with eight others still missing.

The Coast Guard, along with military and local government rescue units, continued their search for the eight missing who were among the 98 passengers of M/B Maejan.

The wooden-hulled boat left the Calayan port in Cagayan on Sunday but failed to enter the port of Aparri when big waves and strong current dragged it until it capsized several meters off the shoreline of Barangay Linao.

Coast guard chief Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the ferry was authorized to carry only 50 people but twice as many were packed on board for a trip to buy Christmas food and other holiday supplies.

Tamayo said criminal charges would be filed against boat owner Edmundo Arellano for allowing the overloaded Maejan to sail. Arellano’s wife and daughter were among the dead, police said.

The provincial police confirmed there were 98 passengers in the capsized boat, although only 96 names were listed in the passenger manifest.

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), on the other hand, issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against Arellano following the accident.

Marina issued the order on reports that another boat owned by Arellano was following its ill-fated sister ferry when the accident occurred.

Marina region 1 director Bing Ortiz said the other boat M/B Maejan 2 was not officially registered to ferry passengers.

Arellano, for his part, took responsibility for the whole tragedy.

“I know my responsibility for what happened. I know how it is to lose one’s loved ones since I, too, am mourning from the incident with the death of my wife and daughter,” he said.

President Arroyo ordered concerned government agencies to attend to the needs of the victims.

“(Mrs. Arroyo) condoled with the bereaved families, saying these recent tragedies bring more pain and misery to their loved ones especially when they happen during the Christmas season,” Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.

The Coast Guard, meanwhile, located one of its rescue vessels that lost radio contact in rough seas off Antique province yesterday while on its way to help survivors of a sunken cargo ship.

A helicopter and other rescue ships found the Coast Guard vessel SARV 3504 with its engine broken several kilometers off Sibay island near the tourist resort of Boracay, coast guard spokesman Lt. Gary Dale Gimotea said.

Radio contact was lost but crewmembers used their cell phones to call in their coordinates. Tamayo added a helicopter was used to rescue nine of the Coast Guard personnel from SARV.

While four personnel remained on the ship, Tamayo said the vessel would be towed to the nearest port.

They were responding to a distress call Tuesday by a cargo vessel loaded with cement that sank off Caluya island in Antique, killing crewmember Alex Tambasin, the vessel’s chief engineer, Gimotea said.

The remaining 19 crew of MV Ma. Lourdes were rescued by a passing vessel and brought to Caluya, he said.

Rough waves were reported at the time of the sinking, officials said.

The Coast Guard also warned of possible oil spill in the wreckage area.

Coast Guard Iloilo chief Commander Harold Jarder said they are monitoring the possibility of diesel fuel leaking from Lourdes and contaminating the coastal areas of Western Visayas.

“Two years ago, we had to deal with the country’s worst oil spill in Guimaras,” Jarder pointed out.

The Coast Guard also rescued eight fishermen after their boat drifted and sank off Atimonan, Quezon last week.

The rescue came after the owner of the fishing boat Arnel Manaog informed the Coast Guard of the missing vessel with eight crew on board. – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Evelyn Macairan, Ronilo Ladrino Pamonag, Marvin Sy. Arnell Ozaeta, AP