DOTC orders investigation of ferry sinking off Masbate

In this Friday June 14, 2013 photo, passengers who survived the sinking of the ferry M/V Carmel are comforted by relatives upon disembarking from rescue boats at the port of Aroroy township, Masbate province in central Philippines. The ferry, was going from Albay province in the center of the Philippines to the nearby Masbate province when it sank, killing two people but 54 passengers and crew were saved when rescuers pulled them to safety about 1 nautical mile from Aroroy port. Rescuers continue to search for seven more missing passengers Saturday. (AP Photo/Local Government Unit Masbate, Neri Jazul)

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has ordered the Board of Marine Inquiry to find out what caused MV Lady of Mount Carmel to sink off Masbate.

“We want to find out what really happened and we will do whatever is necessary within the purview of the DOTC, to avoid such accidents in the future,” said Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya Tuesday.

The board, which is under the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), will coordinate with other agencies that will look into the sea accident that occurred in fair weather as the roll-on-roll-off vessel was near Burias Island in Masbate on June 14.

“Now that the Office of Civil Defense, the Coast Guard, and the Philippine Navy have already exhausted their search and rescue efforts and begun retrieval operations, our immediate objective is to determine what circumstances led to this unfortunate incident,” Abaya said in a statement.

Two female passengers drowned in the incident while 61 other passengers and crew were rescued. At least seven remained missing.

The Masbate-bound Lady of Mount Carmel was carrying an estimated 70 people and crew along with two buses and a six-wheeler truck when it departed from the Pio Duran port in Albay. Weather conditions at the time were calm, according to the ship captain who was interviewed after being rescued.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Doña Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker off Masbate, killing more than 4,341 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.