An Update on M/V Princess of the Stars Marine Inquiry

Based on a news item in Shiptalk News dated July 25, 2008, the BMI has uncovered more facts regarding the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars incident. What follows shows how callously Sulpicio Lines have disregarded and neglected measures to ensure vessel safety and passengers safety.

It is very depressing to find out that life jackets being used on their ships are those that had been banned years ago, but were still in use. The fact - these cheap life jackets comprised 50 percent of those in use by inter-island ferries. Esguerra, a PCG doctor and trainer who guided dive missions in the upturned ship, says the vests he saw on recovered bodies are the old boxy types that gain buoyancy from Styrofoam.

Photographs of vessels by three of the nation’s largest shipping companies, including Sulpicio Lines, showed thick black smoke belching out of chimney stacks, indicating aging engines, and accommodation steel ladders welded to their sides, which are considered hazardous in the event of abandon ship situations.

The life rafts should carry standard provisions under international maritime rules. But, “There was no food or water in the life raft, only a flashlight,” Philip Vasquez ( survivor), says in his testimony during the BMI hearing.

A Sulpicio Lines safety officer, Ernelson Morales claims that the accommodation ladders were approved by MARINA.

Reading upon all these, there is only one fact more disturbing than all the facts listed above - Safety is no longer a concern. These shipping companies are merely able to do their business because the MARINA and PCG are allowing them to run their ships even if they are not fulfilling the standards set up by existing policies or regulations. This kind of system will create more incidents and we will be losing more lives in the future