2 bodies recovered from ferry

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from the sinking of the M/V Catalyn B has risen to five following the retrieval of two bodies – a male and a female – from the sunken passenger ferry.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said its divers recovered the bodies of the pair yesterday afternoon, the ninth day of its search and retrieval operations.

The two were identified as Alex Masangkay and Lea Ann Tejoso.

“As of 4:25 p.m. Captain Matthew Caldwell, PCGA, retrieved two cadavers - one male around 30 years old and one female around 20 years old,” PCG spokesman Lt. Commander Arman Balilo said in a text message. PCGA stands for PCG auxiliary.

Balilo said the recovered bodies were transferred from the PCG fast craft to a bigger vessel, the BRP Pampanga.

PCG-National Capital Region-Central Luzon (NCR-CL) district commander Commodore Luis Tuason Jr. said the bodies were found near a window of the vessel, which is 221 feet underwater.

The BRP Pampanga was expected to reach the PCG headquarters late yesterday evening to unload the bodies.

On board the search and rescue vessel were Tuason, Caldwell, the American operator of a remote-operated vehicle (ROV), and six PCG divers.

The wooden-hulled M/V Catalyn B sank off Limbones Island in Cavite before dawn on Christmas Eve after colliding with the steel-hulled fishing vessel F/V Anatalia. 

The ship, carrying 73 passengers and crew, was on its way to Tilik, Lubang Island, Mindoro from Manila while the Anatalia was returning to the Navotas fishport from a fishing trip in Turtle Island in Palawan.

The passenger ship is owned by San Nicholas Shipping Lines while the fishing boat is owned by FilMariner Aquaventures.

The three other fatalities from the collision - all passengers of Catalyn B - were identified as Beverly Cabinillo, 36; Relly Morales, 71; and Welmar Tanayan, 27. Rescuers plucked 46 survivors from the waters.

Captain missing

Meanwhile, the captain of another ill-fated passenger vessel, M/V Baleno 9, has remained unaccounted for.

“None of the survivors could tell us where the captain is. It is possible that he was trapped inside the sunken vessel or he could be hiding,” Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Ma. Elena Bautista said yesterday.

Marina and PCG officials said they have not received information on the whereabouts of ship captain Jimmy Andal since the sinking of the 199-gross-ton roll-on roll-off (RORO) vessel on Dec. 26 near Verde Island in Batangas.

There were six confirmed fatalities in the sinking and 73 survivors. Forty-four persons have remained unaccounted for.

Bautista said Baleno operator Besta Shipping Lines and its owner Peter Ang have not provided information on Andal’s whereabouts.

Bautista said she would be meeting with officials and representatives of the shipping line tomorrow.

“We hope to know the location of the captain and we would ask them about the lack of assistance they are allegedly giving the survivors or the families of the casualties,” she said.

Bautista said they have already reminded Ang of tomorrow’s deadline for his shipping company to submit a timeline of its search and retrieval operations.

“Marina issued an order to the ship owner to retrieve the remaining bodies inside the ship. We gave them five days to submit a timeline to us,” she said over the “Para sa Iyo Bayan” radio program of Vice President Noli de Castro.

Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza directed Marina to suspend the operations of the four remaining vessels of Besta Shipping Lines.

PCG district commander in Southern Tagalog Commodore Cecil Chen said Andal has been included in the “missing persons” category.

Chen said they are still finalizing the composition of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) tasked to investigate the sinking.

In the hearing, the ship owner would have to explain the discrepancy in the passenger manifest as well as answer allegations that the bow ramp was opened and that some of the ship’s crew were allegedly drunk.

Meanwhile, a RORO vessel carrying 62 passengers and crewmembers encountered engine trouble and drifted for more than three hours in the waters of Surigao early yesterday morning.

Initial information reaching the PCG showed that the M/V Millennium of Millennium Shipping Lines Inc. was 30 minutes into its journey from the Lipata Port in Surigao City to Liloan in Southern Leyte when its main engine conked out. Reports said diluted fuel oil supply caused the engine trouble.

The ship, skippered by Aniano Ferolino, managed to sail back to Lipata after more than three hours using another engine. - Evelyn Macairan and Pia Lee-Brago