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MV Princess of the Star

MV Princess of The Star is a cruise ferry that owned by a Philippines shipping

company, Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation. Sulpicio Lines is the operator of
the ship. This ship was built in 1984 by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co.,
Ltd. in Aio, Japan. The first owner of this ship is Shin Nihonkai Company that named
the cruiser as MV Ferry Lilac. Shin Nihonkai operate this ship from 1984 until 2004,
then Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation take over and named MV Princess of
The Star. The ship’s weight is 23,824 tonnes and can accommodate a full capacity of
1,992 passengers at one time.

The disaster that happen to MV Princess of The Star is caused by Typhoon

Fengshen, locally known as Typhoon Frank. Princess of the Stars had been allowed
to set sail on Saturday despite the threat posed by the typhoon because under the
rules it was capable and large enough to stay afloat under 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. Typhoon Fengshen, known in the
Philippines as Typhoon Frank, was the sixth named storm and the fourth typhoon that
recognized by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The Typhoon Warning Center
recognized Fengshen as the seventh tropical depression, the sixth tropical storm, and
fifth typhoon of the 2008 Pacific typhoon season. Fengshen has causing lots of
damage that resulted at least 1371 death and 87 people missing on the Philippines
and China. Most of the deaths occurred in the Philippines, including 846 of the 922
people on board the Princess of the Stars who were killed when the ship capsized
(BBC News. June 22, 2008).

Princess of the Stars left the port of Manila to cruise Cebu City. On that day,
Typhoon Frank is in force at Samar Island, Princess of the Stars has been allowed to
sail because the vessel was sufficiently vast to remain above water if the storm
happen. However, Typhoon Frank suddenly changed course soon thereafter, putting
the ship in danger threat of being overpowered by the storm. Philippine Coast Guard
has received a distress call form the Sulpicio Lines. The Philippine Coast Guard
immediately respond and sent a rescue vessels to check the condition of the ship,
however, the rescue vessel could not immediately proceed to check of M/V Princess
of the Stars because of the rough sea at that time (ABS-CBN. June 22, 2008).

The total number of people on board then was 747 passengers with 121 ship
crews. However, Sulpicio Lines said that there were 755 passengers and 111 ship
crews, making a total abroad of 866 people on board. The difference number of
passengers recorded is due to the report that there are some of them bravely swim to
the nearest island called Sibuyan Island to save their life. For the record, the ship is
still well-functioning and the Princess of The Star is still running into the harsh oceans
off the coast of Romblon. The captain give an order to the passengers of the ship to
put on the life jacket, and after 15 minutes, the captain ordered to abandon the ship
as soon as possible (Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved December 18, 2012).
Princess of The Star started to tilt at around early afternoon. There are many of them
were not wearing life jacket, according to the four survivors. The survivors saw
passengers started hopping into the water and some of them made it onto the life raft.
On the other hand, the crews of the ship are more worried about saving themselves
than helping the passengers to off board the ship. After a quite a long time in the tilt
condition, the ship finally sunken at 1 pm in the afternoon (Yahoo! News. June 22,
2008)
 The investigation by the member of Philippines Board of Marine found that the
operator Sulpicio Lines and the captain of Princess of the star liable for the tragedy.
The cause of the sinking Princess of the star recorded as a human error. The captain
Florencio Marimon had miscalculated about the risk on the trip to Cebu because of
stormy weather. According to the report: "The immediate cause of the sunken MV
Princess of the Stars was the failure and negligence of the sea captain to deliver an
extraordinary diligence and good seamanship thereby committing an error of judgment
that brought MV Princess of the Stars in a harm way and become the victim of Typhoon
Frank (Radio Australia. June 22, 2008). The captain and seamanship of the Princess
of the ship should know in assessing the weather condition before having sail to the
destination. Philippines Board of Marine recorded that Princess of the Star is the only
ship to sail on that day. The other ship such as M/V Sulcon XII also should sail but
they have been cancelled while Princess of the star did not. The other reason that
cause of the sinking Princess of the Star is Conversion to passenger vessel. On 1984,
Princess of the star was not a commercial vessel but it’s purely a cargo vessel. In 2004
when Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation is the owner of the ship, they modified
from cargo vessel to cruse ferry and put passenger accommodation. The modification
has been granted by MIRANA and get permits to transport passenger in 2005. The
modification by Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation was a crucial as the C-deck
was modified for passenger accommodation and contributed to the turning over the
ship. The part of the deck has a single staircase which are close to the water. That is
the only single exit point for the passengers to departing from the ship when abandon.
The shipping operator Sulpicio Line did not ensure that the capability of the ships to
transport all passenger and cargo safely. Sulpicio Lines has announced that they are
responsible for their failure.

The impact from disaster of the Princess of the Star has cause a lot of
passenger and crew of the ship death. There are 866 people on board which 755 is
passenger and 111 ship crew. Only 56 people survive form the tragedy. The survival
swim from the ship to Sibuyan Island. Most of the passenger did not have safety jacket
cause of death. Other than that, Princess of the star also brings cargo in the ship. One
of the major impact that occurred from the disaster is Philippine Span Asia Carrier
Corporation have endured a huge amount of losses from the sinking of the ship.
 In order to avoid the disaster that happened to Princess of the star, all the
shipping company should hire the right captain that have credibility and expert in all
aspect. As we know, the disaster that happened to Princess of the star is cause of the
captain because the captain has fail to ensure that he miscalculated about the risk in
harmful weather condition. Human error that cause lots of death cannot be acceptable
and could make the shipping company endured a huge loss.
Reference :

1. "Relatives of passengers of capsized ship question lack of info on their kin".

ABS-CBN. June 22, 2008. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012.

2. "28 Philippines ferry survivors found: report". Yahoo! News. June 22, 2008.
Archived from the original on June 26, 2008.

3. "Hundreds missing as ship capsizes". BBC News. June 22, 2008.

Retrieved June 22, 2008.

4. "700 people aboard drifting ferry in Philippines". Radio Australia. June 22,
2008. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012.

5. Ortiz, Margaux; Salaverria, Leila (June 24, 2008). "Ill-starred ship pride of
Sulpicio". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved December 18, 2012.