MV Princess of the Stars Survivors: People jumped off ship after 'abandon ship' call

Most of the over 700
passengers and crew
of the capsized MV
Princess of the Stars
have jumped ship
since Saturday 12
noon, but only seven
could be accounted
for at this time.
Coast Guard
spokesperson, Lt.
Armand Balilo, said
rescue teams have
reached the vessel
Sunday around 3 pm,
but has not yet found
signs of life inside the
vessel, which has
gone belly up.
Balilo told abs-
cbnNEWS.com that
divers have not yet
been deployed to
check for trapped
passengers inside the
vessel as waves and
strong winds continue
to ram the area,
which had no signs of
life or even
lifejackets.
Coordination with local
governments are now
underway so locals
could scour the
shorelines, rescue
potential survivors, or
report more
casualties.
So far, four survivors
have made it to the
shores of the coastal
villages of San
Fernando town in
Sibuyan Island, which
is just about 1.5
kilometers from the
capsized ship. The
four had to walk to
access nearest
available medical care
as the typhoon Frank
(international
codename: Fengshen)
made roads
inaccessible.
Four bodies were
earlier found washed
ashore various
coastal villages on
Sibuyan Island in
Romblon province.
Abandon ship
Reynaldo Lanurias, one
of the four survivors,
told radio dzMM
Sunday that when the
ship captain made a
call to abandon the
vessel at around 12
noon Saturday, many
passengers jumped
into the sea.
The other survivors
are Jesus Gica, Oliver
Amorel, and Jessie
Buot. They were found
by rescuers in
Barangay Mabini, San
Fernando, Romblon,
according to Mayor
Nanette Tansingco
who spoke to radio
dzMM on Sunday.
Lanurias said the ship
was slowed down by
strong waves when it
neared the vicinity of
Sibuyan Island, while
it was on its way to
Cebu City from
Batangas port.
Gica, meanwhile, said
most of the people
who jumped into the
sea wore lifevests.
Buot also said some
people rode life rafts,
but their efforts were
futile against the
waves.
"The others rode the
lifecrafts but their
efforts were in vain.
The lifecrafts turned
turtle. The wind [and
waves were] really
very strong," Buot
told radio dzMM in
Filipino.
Tansingco said that
she asked the town's
rescue team to also
confirm the exact
location of the ship.
She said rescue team
saw Sulpicio Lines' MV
Princess of the Stars
upside down with a
hole in the middle.
The ship was found
two to three
kilometers from the
shoreline.
Lanurias and Gica
suffered wounds on
the faces after they
hit some rocks. The
four are currently
undergoing a medical
check-up to assess
their health.
Five barangays along
the coast of San
Fernando - namely
Mabini, Espana,
Mabulo, Agtua, and
Taclobo - are being
monitored by also
confirm the exact
location of the ship.
She said rescue team
saw Sulpicio Lines' MV
Princess of the Stars
upside down with a
hole in the middle.
The ship was found
two to three
kilometers from the
shoreline.
Lanurias and Gica
suffered wounds on
the faces after they
hit some rocks. The
four are currently
undergoing a medical
check-up to assess
their health.
Five barangays along
the coast of San
Fernando - namely
Mabini, Espana,
Mabulo, Agtua, and
Taclobo - are being
monitored by
barangay officials and
police personnel for
survivors that might
be stranded there.
Four casualties
Tansingco also
confirmed that
rescuers retrieved
the bodies of four
passengers.
"Two of the four
bodies were found in
Barangay Mabolo. The
other two were in
Barangay España,"
said Tansingco. Two
were females while
the other two were
males.
Two of fatalities,
estimated to be 40
years old and believed
to be a couple, were
tied to an unidentified
object. The other
female victim was
estimated to be in her
60s while the other
male victim was in his
50s.
One of the female
fatalities was wearing
a ring with the name
"Rose" engraved on
the inside, she said.
She added that
childrens' slippers
were scattered on the
shoreline.
A local councilor,
Ricardo Aligno, said
the bodies of two
women had been
washed ashore. He
said on a radio
program that more
corpses had been
found in other villages
but high winds and
rain made it difficult
to reach those
communities.
Inspector Reynaldo
Reyes, San Fernando
police chief, feared
that more passengers
might have been
trapped inside the
ship.
Maritime authorities
said the boat was
carrying more than 700
people including the
crewmembers. At
least 45 of the
passengers were
believed to be minors.
"I have not seen any
survivors," resident
Melanie Rotoni told
dzMM. "Life jackets
and debris litter the
store. I saw a dead
woman in her 40s
along the shore but
she was the only body
I saw. There is no one
else."
Bad weather hampered
the rescue efforts in
the area. The
Philippine Coast Guard
said the three vessels
initially deployed in
the area, BRP Davao
del Norte and two
tugboats, returned to
the port due to strong
waves. The Coast
Guard vessel BRP
Pampanga in Manila
was also dispatched
to respond to the
emergency.
Roads were reported
to be almost
impassable. The
town's police chief
was ordered by Vice-
Mayor Laringa
Malapitan to proceed
to the area through
motorcycle.
Rescuers said search
operations are
hampered by strong
waves and zero
visibility due to heavy
rains.
Engine breakdown
The ship reportedly
experienced an engine
breakdown near
Sibuyan Island after
being battered by
strong winds. It
departed Manila Friday
evening and was en
route to Cebu when
the incident occurred.
The ship has a gross
tonnage of 23,824.17
and total passenger
capacity of 1,992
people. It was
carrying over 700
passengers and crew.
The MV Princess of
the Stars sent a
distress signal late on
Saturday from the
area after becoming
stranded when the
typhoon swept across
the country.
By late Saturday
night, however, there
were no more
communications
received from the
ship, the Coast Guard
said.
"We were told that at
around 5 am the
captain sounded the
abandon ship signal,"
said Lieutenant
General Pedro Inserto,
military commander in
the Visayas, the
central region of the
Philippines.
Coast Guard boats and
the navy have been
unable to reach the
ferry since the
distress signal,
beaten back by the
large waves still
lashing the coast,
officials said.
The Coast Guard has
sought the help of
other shipping vessels
near Sibuyan and
Romblon islands to
help in the search and
rescue operations.-
With reports from
radio dzMM, Agence
France Presse and
Reuters

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