CEBU CITY -- The ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars was reached by the rescue vessel of the Philippine Coast Guard shortly after 3 p.m. on Sunday, around one nautical mile (estimated at 1.5 kilometers) from the seashore of Sitio Cabitangahan, Taclobo, San Fernando town in Romblon.

Commander Antonio Cuasito, chief of staff of the Coast Guard District Central-Eastern Visayas said search and rescue vessel BRP Batangas manned by Lt. Commander Nilbert Aniversaryo first sighted the ill-fated vessel at 12:30 p.m.

"Coast Guard personnel on board the BRP Batangas sighted MV Princess of the Stars upturned and only her astern keel portion visible 1 nautical mile away from the shoreline of sitio Cabitangahan, Raclobo, San Fernando," Cuasito said.

In Manila, Coast Guard spokesperson, Lt. Armand Balilo, said based on the initial reports he received, the rescue team failed to find any people or even flotation devices like lifejackets in the area. Rescuers, he said, have been scouring shoreline.

BRP Batangas left Cebu at 8 p.m. on Saturday, but it only arrived in the area at past 12 noon on Sunday because of the strong waves.

As of 3 p.m., rescuers from BRP Batangas tried to reach the astern keel portion of the vessel through two rubber boats.

Cuasito said they tried to knock at the astern keel portion in the hope that there were people alive inside.

Cuasito, however, said he had not received any report yet of any signs of life inside the vessel.

He said their divers would try to swim inside the vessel to check on trapped passengers.

As of 3 p.m., Cuasito said only two survivors were found, while six others were confirmed dead.

MV Princess of the Stars, owned by Sulpicio Lines, was carrying at least 747 passengers and crew when it left the port of Manila for Cebu on Friday. It was supposed to arrive 5 p.m. Saturday in Cebu when it encountered rough waters off Sibuyan Island in Romblon at around noon of Saturday and sent out a distress signal shortly before 5 p.m.

An elderly man and woman, believed to be a couple, were found dead with their hands tied to each other at the waters off San Fernando, Cuasito said.

A woman in her 30s with a ring marked “Rose” and who was wearing a black blouse and denim pants and another woman in her 50s with moles on the left cheek, left nose and below her right eye wearing brown pants were found dead in the shoreline of sitio Cabitangahan, Taclobo, San Fernando.

Cuasito said that in another coastal village of Mabini, a woman and a child were also found dead.

But two male survivors were found in the village of Espana but their identities were still not known, he said.

Over 200 worried relatives of passengers crowded the office of the Sulpicio Lines in Cebu to get updates on their loved ones, but officials of the company could not give immediate and specific reports.

Many relatives, angered by the lack of news on the whereabouts of their missing kin, blamed the shipping company for the tragedy.

With a report from Leila Salavierra Inquirer in Manila