within the province of
Romblon The
Princess of the Stars left the port of
Manila on June 20, 2008, en route to
Cebu City. Although
Typhoon Fengshen, locally known as Typhoon Frank, had made landfall at
Samar Island earlier the same day,
Princess of the Stars was permitted to sail because the vessel was large enough to stay afloat in the typhoon's periphery. However, Fengshen unexpectedly changed course later that day, placing the ferry in serious danger of being overwhelmed by the storm. At midday on June 21, the ferry sent out a distress signal; radio contact was lost at 12:30
PST (04:30 GMT). The mayor of San Fernando, Nanette Tansingco, sent a speedboat and confirmed that the ferry had a hole in the hull and was partially submerged, and that several bodies had been found nearby. Later reports revealed that the hole in the hull was actually the ship's
bow thruster. The total number of people aboard was initially reported as 747 – 626 passengers and 121 crew (575 adults, 20 children, 31 infants and 121 officers and crew members). However, Sulpicio Lines announced that there had been 755 manifested passengers and 111 crew members, making a total of 866. It is possible that there were more passengers not recorded in the manifest. According to the last made official figures (final toll) there were 814 dead and missing and 56 known survivors, making a grand total of 870 people on board. According to an account given by four survivors, who managed to swim to nearby
Sibuyan Island,
Princess of the Stars had not malfunctioned (as had been previously reported), but ran into rough seas off the coast of Romblon. At 11:30 am, passengers were told to put on life jackets, The ship began to tilt around midday. After the Navy vessel closest to the area had to abort its rescue mission due to "gigantic waves, pounding rain, and gusty winds", according to the spokesman of the Philippine Navy, another rescue ship reached
Princess of the Stars more than 24 hours after it lost radio contact.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Arman Balilo said: "They haven't seen anyone. They're scouring the area. They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted." By June 23, four bodies had been recovered from the scene by the Coast Guard and the
Philippine Navy. Another 35 corpses and 40 survivors washed ashore at
Burias Island,
Masbate, the same day. It is likely that the bodies came not only from the
Princess of the Stars but also from other vessels that capsized in the typhoon. Some of the 40 survivors said they came from MV
Lake Paway, which departed from Mindanao but later sank at sea. The Philippine Coast Guard reported on June 24, 2008, that it accounted for 115 (48 survivors, 67 confirmed dead, 747 missing) of the 862 passengers and crew of
Princess of the Stars. Navy divers found no survivors inside the wreck when they entered the upturned hulk of the ferry. They found 15 bodies inside the ship's dining area and two others in the bridge. It was so dark inside the ferry that it was impossible to tell how many more corpses were inside. A helicopter from a U.S. military ship, the , found 12 bodies floating near Masbate island, but it was not clear if they were from the
Princess of the Stars. The victims' families accused Sulpicio Lines and the Philippine Coast Guard of negligence in allowing the ship to get underway despite the bad weather. They further blamed Sulpicio for not personally informing them about the tragedy, the details of the accident, and the condition of the ship and passengers. Sulpicio Lines' counsel stated that the ship was never advised by the Coast Guard that it was not safe to sail. Vice President
Noli de Castro presided over the first meeting of the newly created "Task Force Princess Stars". Sulpicio Lines offered to pay the bereaved families 200,000 pesos ($4,500) each, by way of compensation.
Dangerous cargo removal On June 27, 2008, recovery efforts ceased due to the discovery that 10,000 kilos of the dangerous pesticide
endosulfan were on board. The shipment was contracted by
Del Monte Philippines Inc. and was supposed to have been loaded onto another Sulpicio vessel, the MV
Princess of Paradise. The Philippine government announced that they were considering filing charges, as it is illegal to transport
dangerous goods aboard passenger vessels in the country. Titan Salvage was contracted by the owners to remove the endosulfan, along with some additional dangerous cargo in a second container. Both cargos were located in containers in the "D" deck of the capsized vessel. Titan Salvage assembled a salvage team consisting of the following companies: Harbor Star, a Philippine tug and salvage company; Global Diving & Salvage, a U.S. based diving company specializing in hazardous diving operations; and South Pacific Environmental, a Guam-based company specializing in hazardous chemical mitigation. The salvage team began the endosulfan recovery operations on September 24, 2008. By October 5, all 402 of the 25 kg drums had been safely recovered from the first 40 ft container located near the aft end of "D" deck, in about 85 ft of water. The salvage team then removed the other dangerous cargo from a 20 ft container located toward the center of "D" deck in about 35 ft of water. On October 11, it was determined that all of the dangerous cargo located in the second container had been safely recovered. The salvage team drilled into the ship's hull to remove the ship's fuel. This phase was completed by October 17. Approximately 200,000 liters were recovered.
Continuation of body recovery efforts Once the dangerous cargos were removed, the body recovery effort continued. From October 27 until November 10, divers from Harbor Star and the Coast Guard recovered 199 bodies from "C", "B" and "A" decks. PCG commandant Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo stated: "We are not expecting to see 500 bodies. We would be lucky to get half of that." Divers, however, failed to enter the engine room, and some other areas, due to inaccessibility and danger. The bodies were stored on MV
Tacloban Princess. Forensic doctors from the
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and
Interpol were waiting in Cebu City to attempt identification. By May 2010, the wreck had been longitudinally cut in half and towed to shallower waters, where divers could more safely search the interior. A further 47 sets of human remains were recovered, and turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation and the Public Attorney's Office for forensic testing. == Investigation ==