Princess’ hull disappears but memories stay afloat

SAN FERNANDO, Sibuyan Island—For three years, they have learned to live with the ship’s hull bobbing above water, a sight that routinely greeted them every day. Now, they stare at the open, empty sea.

“It’s a relief,” said fisherman Domingo Rosas, 48. “At least you don’t remember that much anymore the tragedy brought by that typhoon.”

From the shore, the gigantic hull of the MV Princess of the Stars has been replaced by a floater that looks more like a ball treading in the waters to mark the wreck underneath.

On June 21, 2008, the Princess of the Stars, said to be one of the biggest passenger vessels in the country, capsized at the height of Typhoon “Frank” (international name: Fengshen) off the coast of Sibuyan Island.

312 bodies found

Of the 825 passengers listed on the manifest submitted by its owner, Sulpicio Lines, 52 survived. Only 312 remains have been recovered to date.

“We really like the entire ship to be taken out. You know, it’s still different, knowing that it’s still there,” Rosas said, recalling how the typhoon had battered the town.

PO1 Arman Leonida, head of the diving team of the Philippine Coast Guard stationed here, said the hull was pulled out on May 29 by slicing the vessel horizontally, leaving its superstructure (cabin and four decks) 120 feet underwater.

2 more years

The hull was pulled by tugboats commissioned by the salvaging company Royal Jessan and brought to its office in Navotas City in Metro Manila.

“I think it will take two more years before the entire ship is removed,” Leonida said.

At the Coast Guard’s station here are 23 black bags of recently recovered personal belongings of the victims. These contained lady’s bags, wallets, traveling bags, cash and cell phones.

The items, retrieved during the latest dive in May, will be turned over to the forensic department of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for identification.

“We could not just dive in there. It depends on the weather and the waves,” Leonida said.

Sinking deeper

Over the years, recovering the remains and salvaging of the ship has become harder for them, he said. The ship has sunk one meter deeper into the seabed, while corals and other marine growths hampered salvaging operations.

They have yet to explore one more portion of the ship, Deck A.

“We still find skeletal remains down there. But they are bits and pieces already,” Leonida said. Recovering the bones will need the approval of the PAO’s forensic experts, he said.

If Coast Guard divers happen to find one, the skeletons are moved and kept in one location which used to be the ship’s information area.

“Right now, there are three skeletons in there,” Leonida said.

Getting used to death

For fisherman Ian Gadia, 34, taking out the ship’s hull has reinforced the attitude of “I don’t care much anymore, whether it’s there or not. We got used to it (being there) anyway.”

The fishing community was able to recover a year after the tragedy, when local authorities lifted the six-month fishing ban after the sinking.

But “until now, whenever the waves are strong, residents gather here at the shore and watch out for whatever stuff the water would tide over,” Gadia said. He was referring to packs of plastic bags, shampoo sachets, cans of meat loaf and packs of detergent soap, which were inside the ship.

The people would either sell them or use them at home, such as the plastic armchair a neighbor of his found on the shoreline weeks ago. The chair was sold for P50 at the market.

“At least there’s some use for it,” Rosas said in Filipino.

Meat loaf

But he will not use the shampoo and soaps as they could irritate their skin. “The meat loaf, I think that could still be good. You’d just have to check if it’s already expired,” he  said.

But residents said not everything that floated from the wreck were of use to them, such as the cigarette butts and plastic food wrappers washed ashore. A 20-foot deep pit was dug near the area to serve as dump.

San Fernando Mayor Dindo Rios is worried about disposal of trash from the shipwreck. The local government will inspect it, he said, as this could pose a long-term effect on the residents and the environment.

“At present, it is being handled by the salvaging company. But we’ll have to check and talk it out with them again,” Rios said, adding that there were also reports of oil spills, although minimal, in the area.

Unlike in previous years when some relatives of the victims would visit the site, some even lighting candles on the shoreline, the residents said they have yet to see any these days.

Nevertheless, Rios said a Mass was scheduled to be offered yesterday for the victims.