Superferry Collides with Fishing Boat off Philippines Leaving One Dead

A passenger superferry rammed into a fishing boat bound for Manila off of the Sarangani province in the Philippines early Friday morning which resulted in the death of one crewman, and wounded six others who were rescued by Coast Guard officials.

One of the surviving fishermen of the M/V San Jose, Rex Bulawin, reported that the men aboard the fishing vessel saw the big passenger ferry heading straight towards their boat, but their boat’s engine was disabled and left them helpless to the collision from the superferry.    The San Jose was totally wrecked and the chief of regional police identified the dead as Jovani Buntong, 60, after he was found floating in the water about two hours after the accident. 

The Aboitiz Superferry-owned Superferry 20 was allowed to sail away and continue on to Manila after the mishap, despite the serious outcome of the incident.  The chief of police explained that under maritime rules, small vessels must always give way to the bigger ships, and even though the fishing boat was disabled, the captain had failed to put out a distress signal that may have prevented the accident.

The Marine Industry Authority Marina of the region has ordered a temporary grounding of nine superferry vessels pending the investigation of the accident in the Sarangani Province and inspections of the other ships.