Philippines is an archipelago where it comprises of more than 7000 islands. As an archipelago, the most common mode of transportation is by a ferry. Ferry navigators may face chalenging ordeals (more ships, shallow depths, bigger waves during unexpected depression) along the journey from one island to another. Navigation agencies and companies must establish safety protocols in order to avoid such disaster from happening.
The deadliest ferry disasters in the Philippines as posted at Philippine Daily Inquirer - 05:42am (Mla time) 06/24/2008 are listed below over the past two decades:
December 1987—A total of 4,386 die in world’s worst peacetime shipping disaster, as ferry Doña Paz, owned by Sulpicio Lines, and an oil tanker collide off Mindoro Island.
October 1988—Doña Marilyn, sister ship of Doña Paz, sinks off Leyte province, killing around 300.
July 1993—279 pilgrims drown when an overloaded wooden temple, mounted on three boats, collapses during a religious festival as it is being towed along the Bocaue River, in Bulacan province.
December 1994—Ferry Cebu City collides with a Singapore oil tanker, killing more than 140.
September 1998—Almost 200 die when ferry MV Princess of the Orient, sister ship of Doña Paz and Doña Marilyn, sinks in stormy seas near Cavite and Batangas.
April 2000—At least 138 drown after the ML Annahada sinks off Jolo island.
February 2004—SuperFerry 14 catches fire near Manila Bay, killing 116 people. Abu Sayyaf claims responsibility, saying a suicide bomber sabotaged the boat to protest ill treatment of Muslim communities.
June 2008—MV Princess of the Stars sinks 3 km from Sibuyan island in Romblon in typhoon-lashed seas, leaving around 800 people missing. Reuters
