A ferry with more than 700 people on board listed and sank in just 15 terrifying minutes in the typhoon-battered seas of the central Philippines, one of only three survivors said Sunday. The captain of the 23,824-tonne Princess of the Stars “gave the orders to abandon ship shortly after it listed,” sending passengers and crew scrambling for life rafts, crew member Reynato Lanorio said over DZBB radio from his hospital bed. “It seemed like everything happened in 15 minutes. Next thing we knew, the ship had gone under,” he added. Lanorio, who said he suffered cuts to his face, was one of only three people known to have survived the sinking off the central island of Sibuyan. The accident, potentially the worst since the Do?a Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker off the central Philippines in 1987 with the loss of some 4,000 lives, occurred as Typhoon Fengshen lashed the central islands. “Many of us managed to get on the lifeboats, but I don't know if they survived,” the crew member said. Four other people on his raft were wrenched away by the big waves while he clung on for dear life. “I did not let go of the rope tied to the side of the raft,” he said. Lanorio said the sinking occurred around noon (0400 GMT) Saturday, 16 hours into the 22-hour voyage, while the passengers were eating lunch. The captain ordered the 121 crew members to man their stations as the ship tilted to one side. The coast guard said the ferry was probably holed below the water line after its engine failed and drifted to shallow waters, having been advised on radio to seek shelter from the coming typhoon. It left the Manila port at 8:00 p.m. Friday. Police found the three survivors in remote coastal villages after they were washed ashore on Sibuyan island, Mayor Nanette Tansingco of San Fernando town told DZBB. The mayor also reported that four bodies had been found washed ashore and that police found a big hole in the sunken vessel, with the rest of the crew and passengers unaccounted for. President Gloria Arroyo, on a plane halfway to the United States for an official visit, criticized the authorities for failing to stop the vessel from sailing. Regional coast guard commander Cecil Chen said the Princess of the Stars was given the all-clear to sail on Friday shortly before the typhoon changed its course. With the typhoon approaching, the captain was radioed to take shelter, and “the captain attempted to do that,” Chen said. However, the engine failed and the vessel was left stranded in the water off Sibuyan's southeast coast. “The engine conked out and (with) the vessel dead on the water and no immediate assistance could be rendered on the vessel, it suffered the consequence of drifting to the shallow portion and was grounded,” he said. Congressman Eleandro Madrona said “it is possible there are survivors” who managed to swim to safety, while Vice President Noli de Castro vowed the government would seek prosecutions if it could be proven some officials neglected their duties.
