The seas surrounding the islands
of the Visayas are among the most heavily travelled waters in the country’s
territory. With such a large amount of ship traffic, whether they are fishing
vessels, passenger ferries or cargo ships, some accidents would sadly happen caused
by anything from human error, vessel defects or Mother Nature itself. Just this
past weekend, the risks of travelling by sea have become prominent once more in
the waters separating the island province of Guimaras, separated by the Iloilo
Strait from the same-named province on Panay Island. Here, three small boat
ferries were capsized, with lives lost.
The Philippine Star has it that three wooden-hulled and motorized
passenger mini-ferries between Iloilo and Guimaras were capsized this Saturday August
3, resulting in no less than 31 dead at last count. The pump-boats M/B Chi-Chi
and M/B Keziah were travelling together when their accidents occurred, while
the M/B Jenny Vince figured in a separate incident within the general area
according to the Philippine Coast Guard. All three vessels were carrying a
total number of 96 passengers plus their respective crews, and in the wake of
these successive tragedies 31 have drowned, 62 were rescued and three are still
missing.
In a statement issued by Commodore
Allan dela Vega of PCG Western Visayas District on Sunday, August 4, the
probable cause of the multiple capsizing was due to squalls generated by the
ongoing Monsoon season, with rain-bearing winds sweeping the country from the
southwest. The squall generated large waves that bore down on the three ferries
while they were on their way to Guimaras from Iloilo City. Dela Vega notes that
the Keziah had no passengers and only five crewmen, the Jenny Vince had 40 passengers
and Chi-Chi 43, with both having four crewmen each.
Commander Armand Balilo,
spokesperson for the PCG as a whole, remarked that the localized squalls which
caused the pump-boats to capsize were a local phenomenon familiar to people in
the area. “The phenomenon of a squall occurring in the middle of the void in
the middle of the sea is what we call a ‘subasco’ in the maritime community,”
says Balilo. “That probably hit them and that may be the initial reason for the
sailing problems of the three boats.” The two ferries with passengers are noted
to have both been carrying passengers below its maximum capacity, Survivors or
the incidents noted how quickly the skies darkened while they were headed for
Guimaras, before winds and waves struck their respective boats. No warning was
given due to fair weather forecasts.
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