Passenger ship carrying 20 tons of oil when it sank, says PCG
Philippine Navy divers retrieve a body from the waters off the coast of Talisay City, in Cebu Saturday, a day after passenger ferry MV Thomas of Aquinas collided with cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete. AP
MANILA, Philippines—MV St. Thomas Aquinas, the passenger ferry that sank off Cebu after colliding with a cargo vessel, was carrying 20 tons of diesel oil when it went down, Commander Weniel Azcuna, Philippine Coast Guard operations officer in Central Visayas, said Saturday.
The PCG on its website said that aside from rescue teams, it sent an oil spill response team.
The passenger ship was carrying 831 people—715 passengers and 116 crewmembers—when it went down after colliding with MV Sulpicio Express Siete late on Friday night in a dangerous choke point off Cebu’s Talisay City.
Related stories:
31 dead, 171 missing as two ships collide
Article continues after this advertisementHistory of ferry disasters in the Philippines
