MANILA, Philippines -- Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) on Friday blamed what it called the “gross incompetence and negligence” of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) for the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars last Saturday.

At the hearing of the board of marine inquiry (BMI) into the sinking of the ferry, SLI counsel Arthur Lim asked the panel to summon PAGASA to explain the alleged incompetence and negligence that “brought about this tragedy.”

SLI owned the Princess of the Stars, which capsized and sank off Sibuyan Island, Romblon province, with more than 800 passengers and crew at the height of typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen).

Lim claimed PAGASA failed to disseminate information on the changes in the track of the storm and to inform the Philippine Coast Guard or the master of the ill-fated vessel.

Because of this, he claimed, the Princess of the Stars “unwittingly and unknowingly entered the eye of the storm.”

Rear Admiral Ramon C. Liwag, chairman of the BMI, said they will invite PAGASA to future hearings to let it answer SLI’s allegations.

SLI also invited the next of kin or legal heirs of passengers listed in the Princess of the Stars’ manifest to fill out “claim forms” available at its Manila and Cebu offices.

Claimants are also required to bring other identification documents such as birth certificates, the marriage contracts of both victims and claimants, valid residence certificates, government or voter’s IDs, and an affidavit of relationship.

Lim said claimants need not hire the services of lawyers since “claims will be acted upon with dispatch and with as simple documentation as possible.”

Another SLI lawyer, Maria Victoria Lim-Florido, said survivors of the ferry tragedy are only entitled to medical assistance and that the money to be given to victims' kin is from the company and not its insurance company.

She and Lim stressed that the compensations is “not an admission of [SLI’s] legal liability” but was the firm’s assistance to victims’ relatives.

Florido added that the issue of compensation “might drag on” since retrieval operations have been indefinitely suspended following the discovery that a shipment of highly toxic pesticide was onboard the doomed ferry.

“We don't want to prolong their agony,” Florido said.