MANILA, Philippines - Four people died but 23 others still missing according to a yesterday 's report early in the morning after two boats collided in the darkness of Manila Bay during the busy Christmas rush, making this as the latest disaster to hit the Philippines among all tragedies that Filipino people had surpassed.
The missing passengers reported were attempted to be searched-and-rescued from the wooden-hulled ferry M/V Catalyn B, which rammed into the starboard side of a steel-hulled fishing boat and sank off the coast of Cavite.
District commander of Coast Guard Southern Tagalog, Commodore Cecil Chen, said the Catalyn is heading some 2.8 nautical miles NW of the island of Limbones when it collided with F/V Anatalia yesterday at around 2:25 a.m.
Saving 46 people over the next five hours, an emergency operation in the busy waterway swung into action, But a subsequent Coast Guard report said dozens were still missing.
According to the Coast Guard Action Center, rescuers has now recovered four bodies from Manila Bay
Fatalities were reported to be the body of 34-year-old Beverly Cabinillo at around 1:35 p.m. Two other fatalities were identified as Relly Morales, 71, and a certain Welmar, believed to be 22 to 27 years old, who was identified through his cell phone.The Catalyn had 14 crewmembers and 59 passengers when it left Pier 2 of North Harbor in Manila at 9 p.m. Wednesday bound for Tilik, Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro, southeast of Manila. The 13-meter long Catalyn had a capacity to carry 126 people and was not overloaded, he added. “Some of those rescued are now aboard the Anatalia,” Balilo said.
All 22 crewmen of the 369-ton fishing boat Anatalia were safe, and their vessel was damaged but did not sink after the collision, said Melvin Viola of the Coast Guard’s operation center. The Anatalia was on its way back to the port of Navotas in northern Manila after an extended fishing trip in the Turtle islands in the southern Philippines, Tuason said.
The cause of the collision at a time when millions of Filipinos were heading to their home provinces ahead of Christmas Eve was not clear. No weather disturbances were reported in the area.
The two vessels met at the mouth of Manila Bay at around 2:25 a.m. The Catalyn was on its way out of the bay while the Anatalia was entering the bay. Commodore Tuazon said the vessels should have passed port-to-port or leftside-to-leftside, but the Catalyn hit the rear starboard or right side of the fishing vessel.
The bow of the wooden-hulled passenger vessel sustained a large hole that caused it to sink in just 10 minutes. The fishing vessel, on the other hand, was only slightly damaged. The mouth of the bay is considered a busy sealane and some vessels take extra precautions when passing through so that they would not run aground in the shallow area.
