'Princess of the Stars' towed near shore

MANILA, Philippines - By early next year, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and salvaging firms would resume their search for the missing bodies that might be inside the submerged M/V Princess of the Stars, which sank 18 months ago off the coast of Sibuyan Island in Romblon.

Lt. Cmdr. Allan de la Vega, PCG deputy commander for maritime safety services, said that by January, divers from the vessel’s new owner, Royal Jessan Petromin Resources Inc. (RJPRI), and salvor C.V. Gaspar Salvage and Lighterage Corp. would enter the ship again to remove loose cargo and shipping containers and check if there are still human remains inside.

“They will just have a holiday break and resume operations by Jan. 15 next year,” said De la Vega.

Commodore Cecil Chen, PCG-Southern Tagalog commandant, said that some two weeks ago, RJPRI and C.V. Gaspar were able to complete 30.25 percent of the retrieval operations and towed the sunken ship close to shore from about a nautical mile away, to make it easier for them to complete the operations.

Originally the vessel was touching the seabed and only the tip of the bow was exposed; now in shallow waters the entire hull is exposed. Before it was at a depth of some 40 to 50 meters; now it is lying at about 20 meters.

Only 33 of the passengers and crew of Princess of the Stars survived the tragedy on June 20, 2008, while 548 people were confirmed dead and 283 others remained missing.