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The owners of a sunken Philippine ferry are unwilling to see its
vessel refloated because it would be unable to claim full damages
from insurers, a maritime official said Saturday.
The Philippine Coast Guard, meanwhile said it
had recovered 16 additional dead bodies from the ferry, floating in
the waters or on the shores of the island of Masbate, some 60
kilometers from Sibuyan.
The senior official said that the submerged
Princess of the Stars, which contains hundreds of dead bodies
inside, could easily be refloated but the shipping line and
authorities were stalling on the issue.
The ferry, which sank off the central island of
Sibuyan with 850 people aboard in a typhoon a week ago, has an
intact hull with air pockets that could be used to float it once
more and put it right side up, the official said.
However, declining to be named, he said the
owners, Sulpicio Lines, and the coast guard “are not pursuing that
tack because they are waiting apparently for the insurers to conduct
their own investigation.”
“If they re-float the vessel, Sulpicio will
not be able to claim damages for a total wreck,” the senior
official said.
The 24,000-ton ferry is sitting upside down on a
reef off Sibuyan, part of its hull jutting from the waters. Only 57
survivors have been found and it is believed that most of the bodies
of the dead are trapped inside the hull.
Coast guard and Navy divers, assisted by US Navy
frogmen, were trying to retrieve the dead from the ship but the
already slow-moving operation was suspended Friday after it was
discovered the vessel was carrying a shipment of a toxic pesticide
that might leak into the water.
The maritime official said the pesticide
complicated the operation but remarked that the coast guard should
have had blueprints of the ship and other documents from Sulpicio
Lines identifying its cargo before the retrieval operations began.
Nanette Tansingco, mayor of the coastal town of
San Fernando, closest to the ill-fated ship, said she had barred
fishermen from the area because of the pesticide threat.
“We will be doing a lot of studies in the area
to make sure no one gets ill from eating fish,” she said.
Officials earlier said that they found no trace
of the pesticide in the waters but are not taking chances and have
subjected the divers to medical tests.
Navy Spokesman Lieutenant Col. Edgardo Arevalo
said that so far, there have been no reports of divers poisoned by
the pesticide although some are suffering from infections and fever
from the numerous dives they had to make.
The navy spokesman said he had not heard of any
suggestions of re-floating the vessel.
The recovery of the 16 bodies adds to the 146
bodies were earlier recovered from the ferry. Local authorities said
another 20 bodies were waiting to be picked up in Pasacao town, east
of Sibuyan but this could not yet be confirmed.
-- AFP
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