New search begins for missing Sewol passengers

As engineers proceeded Sunday with preparations to move the ill-fated ferry ashore, currently loaded on a semisubmersible transport vessel at Mokpo Port, South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced a plan to resume an underwater search of the wreck site.

Starting from Sunday night, 50 divers were to begin work in rotation to search the seabed area of about 32,000 square meters, where the sunken Sewol lay for nearly three years until it was lifted out of the water last week.

In order to prevent the victims’ bodies from being lost during the lifting process, salvage engineers installed an underwater steel fence 200 meters long, 160 meters wide and 3 meters high. The area inside the fence was divided into 40 sections for detailed search.

“The maritime search operation inside the fence should begin tonight,” said Lee Cheol-jo, an official from the Oceans Ministry who oversees the salvage and search operation.

But the official cautioned that strong tide in the area might prevent active searching by divers. “We have strong tides today and may face difficulty diving,” Lee added.

Sewol sank nearly three years ago in the nation’s worst peace-time maritime disaster, leaving over 300 dead, mostly high school students on a field trip. Nine passengers are still unaccounted for. The search for those missing has been on hold since November 2014, when the government decided to salvage the ship without cutting it into pieces.

On Sunday, some belongings of Sewol passengers were found as engineers worked to remove mud from the recovered ferry, which was transported to Mokpo Port on Friday. The ship is expected to be moved to a dry dock Thursday.

Among objects found were handbags, cards and pens, which presumably belonged to the victims, as well as the passport of the ship’s captain Lee Jun-seok, who is in prison on a life sentence for abandoning the ship and its passengers.

The search team also found fragments of animal bones on the ferry’s deck Sunday, where the team had found pieces of animal bone last week. The authorities had initially thought the pieces came from victims until the forensic experts said otherwise.

The government began the work of bringing the Sewol ashore by sending the first batch of transporters to pull the wreckage out of the transport vessel carrying it. The whole package of transporters is expected to arrive Thursday.

About 80 workers will be deployed to remove the mud and the whole process will be conducted manually, the ministry said, citing concerns that remains of the victims or their belongings, if any, could be damaged during the search operation.

“We are going to proceed cautiously and slowly,” said Lee. “It is not something that requires high-level expertise. What’s more important is how we handle (the situation), when we come across bodies.”

Tuesday 04 April 2017

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/04/03/new-search-begins-for-missing-sewol-passengers.html

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Sewol ferry disaster: Attention growing over collection of missing bodies

The successful salvaging of the Sewol ferry is drawing attention over whether the remains of nine missing passengers will be retrieved either from within the ferry or from the seabed where the ship had laid for almost three years.

Nine of the 304 passengers who died in the April 2014 ferry disaster in remain unaccounted for. They include the bodies of four students and two teachers of Danwon High School, who were on a school trip to Jeju Island, and three other passengers.

Search operations will be conducted on the ferry after it is drained of water and oil and taken to Mokpo Port this week.

The maritime ministry and Mokpo city government have formed a team of 105 government officials and police to assist in the search.

Searches will first require sediment and floating matter inside to be removed, to clear a way into the ferry. The ministry will then disinfect and wash the ferry and take out the objects found inside. Any objects left by the victims will be handed over to the bereaved family members.

In the meantime, there is a dispute over how to conduct the search. The ministry is reviewing cutting out the passenger cabins from the ferry and putting them upright before initiating the search.

However, bereaved family members are claiming separating the cabins may make it difficult to investigate the cause of the sinking.



Lee Cheol-jo, a senior official at the ministry, said, "This method is reasonable, considering efficiency in making the searches — even if we do cut out the cabins we will conduct inspections of the ferry at the same time."

He added, "We will conduct a pre-examination of the parts that may be damaged in the process of cutting out the cabins so it does not affect the inspections."

The ministry will first search the cabins on the third and fourth decks of the ferry, where the bodies are most likely to be located, based on testimonies from survivors.

It has leased the port for the search until July 20. The ministry put up a fence 200 meters wide, 160 meters long and 3 meters high around the seabed where the Sewol sank, in order to prevent anything that could possibly have drifted out of the ferry during the salvaging from being swept away.

The Chinese consortium led by state-run Shanghai Salvage, which was in charge of recovering the sunken Sewol, will also conduct the seabed search.

The fenced area will be divided into 40 sections, and divers will search one square meter at a time. The search is expected to be tough as currents are strong at the site of the sinking. After the divers make their search, sonar will scan the area.

There is the possibility that the remains may have drifted out of the ferry, as it has been submerged for almost three years. However, considering most of the 295 recovered bodies were retrieved from within the ferry, it is likely that the unaccounted bodies will be trapped inside as well.

Tuesday 04 April 2017

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/03/251_226369.html

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Up to 30 drown after Christmas ferry accident in Uganda

At least 30 people reportedly drowned Christmas Day when their boat overturned on Lake Albert in western Uganda. The victims included members of a local football team and their supporters.

Ugandan police reported on Monday that 21 people are missing and nine bodies have been recovered after a ferry transporting a local football team and their supporters on the way to a game capsized. The ferry was reportedly overloaded and many on the boat were intoxicated.

Ugandan police with the help of local fishermen were able to rescue 15 people. The group was on their way to watch a friendly Christmas Day match in a nearby village.

"There was a party on the boat, the passengers were dancing and others were drunk. The boat was overloaded with 45 people, all members of the football team and local fans," police commander John Rutagira told.

"The water was calm but the problem came in when the merry-making team and fans tilted to one side of the boat. It capsized killing about 30 people," he added.

The majority of ferries used in Uganda are locally-made wooden boats with planks for seating and a small outboard motor. The ferries are often overloaded and passengers are usually not offered life vests.

One of the survivors told the local Daily Monitor newspaper that he survived after swimming for almost an hour to shore.

According to local reports, one of those killed was an 18-year-old woman who went to cheer for her local team. She leaves behind a five-month-old baby.

Fatal accidents are frequent on Ugandan waters. Just three days earlier, a ferry accident on Lake Victoria - which makes up Uganda's southern border - killed 20 people. Last November, 10 people drowned when a ferry capsized on Lake Albert.

Sunday 26 December 2016

http://allafrica.com/stories/201612260289.html

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Death toll reaches 73 in Myanmar ferry disaster

The death toll in a Myanmar ferry sinking has reached 73 as authorities wrap up a week-long search and rescue operation for survivors.

The ferry sank early on Saturday, about 140 km northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar's second biggest city.

"We were able to salvage the sunken ferry yesterday and we don't expect to find any more bodies, so we've suspended the official rescue operation," said Ko Ko Naing, an official of Myanmar's social welfare ministry on Friday.

He said 73 bodies, among them 54 women, 14 men and 5 whose gender had yet to be identified, had been found, in addition to the 159 passengers rescued alive.

The ferry had been laden with at least 300 passengers when it sank, exceeding its official capacity of 120, local parliamentarian Kyaw Htay Lwin said, citing witnesses.

22 October 2016

http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/death-toll-reaches-73-in-myanmar-ferry-disaster-2016102209

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SAR mission enters final stage as death toll reaches 66

A week after the KM Marina Baru ship sank in Bone Bay, National Search and Rescue Team (Basarnas) has announced a decision to extend its search for the ill-fated ship passengers until Tuesday, in hopes of locating the 12 who remain missing.

“Hopefully, with this search extension, the 12 missing passengers will be located and returned to their respective families,” Basarnas chief Air Marshal Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in Makassar over the weekend.

The 125-gross-ton passenger ship, carrying 118 people including crew members, departed Tobaku Port in North Kolaka regency, Southeast Sulawesi, at around 11 a.m. on Dec. 19, to sail through Bone Bay to Siwa Port in Wajo regency, South Sulawesi.

The ship was expected to arrive in Siwa at 4 p.m. on the same day, but it lost contact with operators and failed to reach its destination.

As of Sunday, the SAR team had recovered a total of 106 passengers from various locations in Bone Bay. Forty of those rescued survived the incident while the other 66 had been found dead.

Three dead bodies were found on Saturday in the waters around Tanjung Tobaku, Lasusua, North Kolaka and have been evacuated to the regency’s Djafar Harun General Hospital for identification.

Despite the SAR search extension, Bambang said that the number of personnel would be reduced. The team, he added, would no longer carry out an air search, as this had previously been supported by an Indonesian Military (TNI) helicopter.

Local authorities have shut down the evacuation and victim identification post in Siwa but continue to monitor the SAR mission from the North Kolaka capital of Lasusua.

As many as 20 of the deceased have been handed over to the South Sulawesi Police Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) unit, while the other 46 deceased were handed to its counterpart at the Southeast Sulawesi Police.

Earlier, South Sulawesi Police medical and health affairs head Sr. Comr. Raden Harjuno said that his side had managed to identify the 20 bodies kept at the Siwa Regency Hospital in Wajo and the Bhayangkara Police Hospital in the provincial capital of Makassar.

Southeast Sulawesi Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Sunarto, meanwhile, said that his DVI unit had identified 36 of the 46 victims hand had handed over their bodies to their respective family members.

“We will work hard to complete the identification process as soon as possible,” he said on Sunday.



Both the police and the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) have said that they would investigate the accident, the country’s deadliest maritime incident this year.

They, however, remain uncertain with regard to the province in which the boat actually sank.

Last week, state-run insurance company Jasa Raharja said it would cover funeral costs and provide compensation for the victims’ next of kin. For each victim, there will be a provision of Rp 25 million (US$1,830) in compensation and Rp 2 million for funeral costs.

Monday 28 December 2015

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/12/28/sar-mission-enters-final-stage-death-toll-reaches-66.html

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Dozens missing as ferry sinks on Chindwin River

At least four people have died and as many as 80 more are missing after a boat sank on the Chindwin River in Mandalay Region’s Kalaywa township yesterday.

Rescuers said they were able to save about 30 passengers, but witnesses claimed that around 100 people were on board the vessel at the time of the accident.

The boat, called the Ya Zar Tun, sank around 5:30am, according to the township head, who was alerted to the incident an hour later. The official said everyone was still in the river by the time authorities arrived to begin the rescue operation.

The bodies of four people were recovered soon after, while the boat captain, as well as his wife and one-year-old son, were among the 70-80 people still missing at the end of the day yesterday, according to the township official.

U Aung Zaw, the Kalaywa township National League for Democracy secretary, said a party campaign team arrived in Gazet village, Kalaywa township, yesterday morning, but instead of canvassing, the group began assisting the rescuers.

“[The team] helped bring four passengers who had serious injuries to the Kalaywa hospital,” he said, adding that they had been cut by a broken glass cover on the upper deck of the boat that shattered before the vessel capsized.

U Aung Zaw also said all of the dead recovered yesterday were women. They have yet to be identified.

A 20-year-old local resident said the boat was crammed with about 100 people before it hit an eddy and sank. He also said that an army unit came to assist the rescuers on the water yesterday.

Ko Kyaw Thet Win, chair of the Upper Chindwin Youth Network, blamed the slew of accidents on the Chindwin River on careless driving. He said that crashes happen frequently in the area, due to a lack of safety checks and routine maintenance. He speculated that the Ya Zar Tun appeared to have been overloaded, and may have sunk due to an imbalance. The official cause of the accident remains unknown, however.

A ferry disaster in March off the coast of Rakhine State officially claimed 72 lives, while survivors’ say the actual toll is much higher. The Aung Takon 3’s ship log recorded 214 passengers and crew, though it was officially licensed to carry just 176. Those on board claim there were over 400 people stuffed on to the boat, which was also heavily overloaded with cargo, including some even crammed into the toilets.

The accident prompted a closer examination of the state of the government’s underfunded ferry network, and the Inland Water Transport promised more stringent safety checks, training for staff and onboard demonstrations.

Monday 2 November 2015

http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/mandalay-upper-myanmar/17319-dozens-missing-as-ferry-sinks.html

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S Korea ferry disaster: Temp teachers discriminated, even in death

On April 16, 2014, 26-year-old Kim Cho-won and 31-year-old Lee Ji-hye, teachers from Danwon High School, rushed downstairs from their fifth-floor cabin as the ferry they were on began to list.

They ran across the doomed vessel in a desperate attempt to get as many students to safety as they could. It was the last time they were seen alive, as the two teachers were among 304 killed when the Sewol ferry capsized on that fateful day.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Personnel Management said the two could not be subject to the screening process to be considered "killed in the line of duty." The reason was that they were temporary teachers. This effectively barred their families from being compensated in the same way as those of the nine other teachers who died in the accident.

"I cannot accept that my daughter is being discriminated in her death. I urge the people to help me so my daughter's honour can be restored," Kim Seok-woo, the father of late Kim Cho-won, said Tuesday at a press conference in front of Seoul Government Complex. He and Lee Jong-rak, father of Lee Ji-hye, visited the government officials and submitted a petition to reconsider their decision, signed by 120,000 teachers across the country.

The incident was a reminder of the discrimination temporary teachers in the country still face, even the ones who had perished in what is widely considered a heroic death.

In Korea, one wishing to acquire a permanent teaching job at elementary, middle and high schools must receive a teacher's credentials from certified colleges or universities. Then they must pass a state-commissioned test and be appointed by the government to receive the status of "education civil servant."

Those who were college-certified but did not pass the state test can only get temporary jobs, which deprives them of many benefits other teachers are entitled to. This includes job security, joining the civil servant pension programme, and providing financial compensation to government officials who are killed on the job.

Temporary teachers say they often fall victim to discrimination at work, both from the school administration and their coworkers.

"My students received an award from a state-sponsored competition, so I filed a report on it. But then I learned that temporary workers cannot claim credit for their contribution, so I had to fill in the forms under the name of another teacher who held a permanent post," said a 31-year-old temporary teacher at a Seoul-based middle school.

Temporary teachers are also the first in line for doing remedial classes, he added. Some faculty members, like the principal, even ask them to run personal errands.

In 2012, the local court ordered schools to pay bonuses to the temporary teachers. The case is currently pending decision by the Supreme Court.

Whether or not the temporary teachers should be considered education civil servants has sparked controversy here. The Personnel Ministry stated that Kim and Lee could not receive benefits for education civil servants, as they had different working conditions and did not contribute to the civil servants pension programme.

But a study by the National Assembly Research Service ― commissioned by Rep. Jeong Jin-hoo of the minor Justice Party ― found that the current law implies that temporary workers should be subject to the education civil servant law.

Clause 32 of the education civil servant law states that those appointed as temporary teachers are considered "education workers," and clause 2 of the same law stipulates that education workers working at an educational institute are considered education civil servants.

Last month, 69 lawmakers including Jeong proposed a joint resolution that urged the government to recognise Kim and Lee as education civil servants killed on the job.

Local teachers' groups have also voiced complaints about the temporary teachers not being entitled to privileges.

"Teachers exist for students. And a teacher trying to protect lives of students should be respected above all, whether one is a temporary teacher or not," said Kim Dong-seok, the spokesperson for the Korea Federation of Teacher's Associations. He said that compensating the deceased teachers as education civil servants can contribute to boosting the morale of all temporary teachers, since it delivers a message that the government respects teachers who are willing to sacrifice themselves for students.

The Korea Teachers and Education Workers' Union on Tuesday submitted a petition ― signed by 90,000 citizens ― urging the government to compensate all teachers equally.

"Both Kim and Lee tried their best even though they were treated unfairly. But now they are being discriminated in their death," said the KTU. "We will continue fighting with the families (Kim and Lee) until our demands are accepted by the government."

While Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea has expressed hopes for the two teachers' recognition, the ministry's efforts have been limited. "In principle, we hope that it will happen. But there isn't much we can do since it is really not up to us," said a high-ranking ministry official Wednesday, denying earlier reports that the education and personnel ministries had agreed to pursue policies to compensate the two teachers as education civil servants.

Kim Seong-wook told local media that he would not give up until his daughter receives what he believes is the proper treatment as a teacher at Danwon. "Her students came up to me and asked why she was discriminated (in the government compensation). To them, she was their teacher. They don't care if she held a temporary job or a permanent one," he said.

Thursday 16 July 2015

http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/s-korea-ferry-disaster-temp-teachers-discriminated-even-death

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South Korea selects China consortium for Sewol ferry salvage

A Chinese-led consortium was selected Wednesday as the preferred bidder to take on the massive task of raising the South Korean passenger ferry that sank last year with the loss of more than 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren.

The 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry sank off the southwest coast in April 2014. A total of 295 bodies were recovered, but nine remained unaccounted for when divers finally called off the dangerous search of the sunken vessel last November.

The Sewol lies 40 metres (130 feet) down on the sea bed and bringing it to the surface represents a substantial technical challenge. The salvage operation is scheduled to begin in September and take as long as one and a half years.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said it would begin negotiations next Monday with the consortium involving China's state-run Shanghai Salvage Co. and a South Korean firm, which beat six other competitors including European and US firms.

Shanghai received good marks for its experience in salvaging sunken vessels, including a cruise ship that sank in China's Yangtze River with the loss of more than 400 lives last month, it said.

The ministry said it would talk with the second candidate -- a consortium led by China's state-run China Yantai Salvage -- if negotiations with Shanghai fail.

Shanghai offered to lift the ferry for 85.1 billion won ($74 million) by using a frame built with metal beams on the sea floor instead of drilling holes into its side.

"We regarded Shanghai Salvage's idea as safe ... because the Sewol's hull remains fragile," Yeon Yeong-Jin, a ministry official in charge of salvage, told reporters.

The overloaded Sewol was carrying 476 people, including 325 students from the high school in Ansan, when it sank. Only 75 students survived. Strong currents and muddy waters at the site of the sunken vessel greatly hampered the search efforts last year, leaving two divers dead and dozens injured.

The families of those still missing had led a campaign for the ferry to be brought to the surface.

The shock accident -- blamed on the ship's illegal redesign and overloading left unchecked by regulators -- prompted calls to overhaul the nation's lax safety standards and tackle deep-rooted corruption.

Wednesday 15 July 2015

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/south-korea-selects-china-consortium-sewol-ferry-salvage-050346113.html#6qTOsSw

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M/B Kim Nirvana sinking: PCG ends search, rescue ops

The Philippine Coast Guard has ended its search and rescue (SAR) operations for any survivors from the ill-fated sea vessel M/B Kim Nirvana that capsized off Ormoc City last week, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Tuesday.

“The PCG ended their SAR but is still on active monitoring,” the NDRRMC said in a report.

Thirty-five recovered bodies were brought to Pilar, Camotes Island in Cebu via BRP Batangas.

The death toll stood at 61 with one unidentified body. A total of 142 were rescued.

The passenger vessel bound for Camotes Island capsized Thursday last week minutes after it left port.

Authorities are yet to determine why the vessel sank. The number of the passengers in the manifest and the total number of rescued and dead did not match.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/703536/mb-kim-nirvana-sinking-pcg-ends-search-rescue-ops

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Philippine ferry death toll rises to 61

The death toll from a ferry that capsized in Ormoc City has risen to 61, the coast guard said Sunday, indicating that the vessel was overloaded.

Whether the ferry was carrying too many people will be part of an investigation into last week’s disaster that saw the boat’s owner and crew charged with murder.

Coast guard figures released on Sunday showed 61 people had died when the wooden Kim Nirvana capsized, with at least 145 listed as survivors.

This would mean at least 206 people were on board, exceeding the 194 passengers and crew the boat was authorised to carry.

The heavy cargo the ferry was transporting may also have played a role, authorities have said.

'The number of bodies is more than we expected,' said Captain Pedro Tinampay, the regional coast guard chief, refusing to speculate how many might still be missing.

Only 173 passengers and 16 crew were listed on the boat's manifest.

The crew have been accused of reckless behaviour, with an initial police investigation and interviews with survivors indicating the vessel turned abruptly causing it to capsize.

The police investigation is separate from a coast guard enquiry, which will primarily determine the cause of the mishap. However, the coast guard may also recommend criminal and administrative charges.

On Sunday, a coast guard search and rescue vessel transported the bodies of 42 residents of Camotes - where the ferry had been heading - back to their island home for burial.

The bodies were ferried by the Coast Guard’s BRP Batangas.

Relatives watched gravely as rescue personnel carried dozens of white coffins onto the ship.

The Kim Nirvana, which has been lifted out of the water with a crane, lay on a ramp in the background.

As well as passengers the boat had also been transporting sacks of cement, rice and fertiliser which would have weighed as much as 7500 kilos.

Pilar Mayor Jesus Fernandez Jr. said the whole town is in mourning because 39 of those killed were residents of Pilar.

The Public Attorney’s Office also reached out to the families of the victims.

In a text message, PAO Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said the District Office of PAO in Ormoc will provide legal assistance to the victims and their families.

Monday 6 July 2015

http://www.manilatimes.net/toll-from-ferry-disaster-hits-61/197828/

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Death toll from Ormoc ferry sinking rises to 45 as search resumes

The death toll from a passenger ferry that sank soon after leaving the port of Ormoc City, Leyte Thursday has risen to 45 as five bodies were retrieved from the capsized vessel on Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

Authorities said all passengers and crew were now all accounted for, but moved to slowly lift up the ill-fated boat to check for more bodies after relatives insistedthey were still looking for people who were neither in the hospitals or morgues.

Search and retrieval operations resumed Friday morning to look for the missing, but by afternoon, after retrieving the last five bodies, divers stopped work; and are expected to continue retrieval operations Saturday.

Divers from the Philippine Navy and Air Force earlier joined rescuers of the Coast Guard in searching for at least 10 more missing passengers.

Ormoc City DRRM officer Ciriaco Tolibao said there was a total of 191 people on-board the MV Nirvana-B, as compared to 173 passengers earlier reported, plus 18 crew members.

As of noon Friday, Tolibao said, there were 141 passengers rescued, including the 71 people hospitalized in various hospitals in Ormoc, Leyte.

Earlier, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the PCG to conduct a speedy investigation into the cause of the sinking.

The ferry sank around 12:10 p.m. Thursday after capsizing just 200 meters from shore around 30 minutes after leaving port for Camotes island.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the sinking and the Coast Guard has turned over the captain, identified as Warren Oliverio, and other crewmembers to Ormoc police for questioning. Reports said the vessel's owner, Joge Zarco, has also been taken into custody.

Among the angles the Coast Guard is looking into are human error, bad weather and possible overloading.

PCG spokesman Armand Balilo told reporters that the investigation will commence on Friday with the boat captain Warren Oliverio and his crews already in (PCG) custody for their statements.

Initial investigation, however, points to human navigational error as the boat reportedly made a sharp right turn, after it was hit by strong waves, causing the passengers to panic and rush to the right side of the boat, causing it to tilt slowly before capsizing.

Initial angles being followed by the probers are human error, bad weather and possible over loading.

"The ferry was found to be carrying sacks of rice and construction materials, but it doesn't look like overloaded,” Balilo said.

The PCG is checking if the vessel’s structural design had been modified because of extra-seats uncovered in the boat, and if it was approved by the Maritime Industry Authority.

Meanwhile, Cesar Retor, a survivor, said the motorboat was equipped with life jackets but none of them (passengers) wore it. “Probably because they were surprised by the incident,” Retor said.

Some of the survivors, however, said, “We were not given life vests.”

Retor said there were at least 150 sacks of cement on board but it was stockpiled in good condition.

“Ayos naman pagka-pile ng mga semento. Kaya lang nung tumagilid na ang boat namin, nalaglag na mga semento sa gilid, at tumagilid na rin ang sinasakyan namin,” Retor said.

Initial list of survivors

The Philippine Red Cross posted in its website Thursday afternoon the report of its Ormoc-based PRC on the list of victims admitted to various hospitals in Ormoc City.

Friday 3 July 2015

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/113518/search-and-retrieval-operations-resume-in-ormoc

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Tragedy in the sea: Ship mishaps in the last 20 years

The shocking news about the motor banca MV Nirvana-B capsizing just after leaving Ormoc port has left dozens dead and more missing. The Philippine Coast Guard is still working on rescue operations as of press time.

We list down shipping accidents in the past 20 years:

- MV Cebu City, Dec. 2, 1994. The MV Cebu City collided with Singapore oil tanker MV Kota Suria off Manila Bay and sunk. Seventy-three perished while 41 were declared missing. The MV Kota Suria incidentally, only had a dent in its bow.

- MV Viva Antipolo VII, May 16, 1995. The MV caught fire within the vicinity of Lucena, Quezon. Sixty-two died and 10 went missing.

- MV Kimelody Cristy, Dec. 13, 1995. The cold winds of December wasn’t enough to fan out the flames that engulfed the ship off the coast of Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas. Twenty-four perished with 13 missing.

- ML Gretchen I, Feb. 18, 1996. Made of wood, the ML Gretchen I did not stand a chance against strong winds and sank near Cadiz City. Aside from its seaworthiness, the ship was also overloaded and had no radio on board. Fifty-one died.

- MV Princess of the Orient, Sept. 18, 1998. The MV Princess sailed from Manila to Cebu despite a raging typhoon. The ship capsized near Fortune Island, Batangas bringing with it 70 lives.

- MV Asia South Korea, Dec. 23, 1999. The ship was en route to Cebu City when it hit rocks off Bantayan Island. Water gushed in the hole, which led to its sinking. Fifty-eight were killed.

- MV Maria Carmela, April 11, 2002. Fire broke out at the ship’s cargo vessel and even burned for 3 days before sinking near Pagbilao Island in Quezon. Thirty-nine people lost their lives.

- MV San Nicholas, May 25, 2003. MV San Nicholas collided with SuperFerry 12 near Limobones Point, Corregidor. While the SuperFerry didn’t suffer major damages, the San Nicholas sunk and with it, 43 lives.

- SuperFerry 14, February 27, 2004. The only shipping disaster as a result of a terrorist attack, the SuperFerry 14 was bombed by Abu Sayyaf terrorists resulting in the deaths of 94 people.

- MV Princess of the Stars, June 21, 2008. Despite its large size, the Princess of the Stars capsized after facing rough seas off the coast of Romblon. Four-hundred thirty-seven people died with 605 people missing.

- MBca Don Dexter, November 4, 2008. The motor banca capsized after its outrigger broke near Dimasalang, Masbate. Forty-two people died with 10 people missing.

- MBca Jen Mar, December 14, 2008. Another motor banca broke its outrigger though the boat was carrying past its passenger limit. Forty-seven people died as a result of the incident.

- MV St. Thomas Aquinas, August 16, 2013. MV St. Thomas Aquinas was headed for the port of Cebu when it struck MV Sulpicio Express Siete. The ship immediately began to sink. Within 30 minutes, the ship was underwater. One-hundred fourteen people perished with 23 missing.

Thursday 2 July 2015

http://www.philstar.com/news-feature/2015/07/02/1472499/tragedy-sea-ship-mishaps-last-20-years

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Dozens killed after packed Philippine ferry capsizes

At least 36 people were killed after a wooden passenger ferry with close to 200 people on board capsized in rough waters in the central Philippines on Thursday, officials said.

The Kim Nirvana was heading from the central city of Ormoc to the island of Camotes when it capsized.

Rescue boats picked up dozens of survivors who clung to the overturned hull of the vessel, one kilometre from Ormoc port on Leyte island, Ciriaco Tolibao from the city's disaster risk reduction and management office told AFP.

Divers were scouring the murky waters searching for survivors from the inside of the ship, he said. But low visibility, clouds, a choppy sea and strong winds are hampering the rescue operation at the site where the ferry capsized.

Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, told The Associated Press at 4pm Bangkok time that the air force could not operate in those conditions. He said additional divers could not fly in because of the bad weather.

At least 53 survivors were brought to the hospital while more than two dozen others walked home after the mishap, Mr Tolibao told AFP.

The Associated Press reported that among the 173 passengers were at least three Americans and a Canadian.

Lawrence Drake, 48 of New York, said he was able to revive a woman who wasn't breathing while they were in the water via mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

He said he is a retired firefighter and emergency medical technician. He says he also saved an 8-year-old boy and the woman's pregnant daughter. He said he saw at least seven bodies floating in the water, including two children.

Mr Drake is married to a Filipina. His wife was travelling with him from Ormoc to Camotes along with her mother. They, too, survived by swimming out of the boat after it overturned.

Mr Tolibao could not immediately say how many others were missing but a report on Manila radio said at least 21 people were unaccounted for.

The wooden boat, which had 173 passengers and 16 crew on its manifest, overturned just 30 minutes after leaving the port after it encountered big waves, Mr Tolibao said.

"We're scouring the ship for more survivors who may be trapped inside the hull," he said. "We hope to finish the rescue before dark and before it starts to rain."

Survivors told AP by mobile phone that the bow of the ferry suddenly rose from the waters before the vessel flipped over on one side and began to sink near the port of Ormoc.

Leyte was ravaged by Super Typhoon Haiyan which struck in November 2013, leaving more than 7,350 people dead or missing.

The disaster-plagued Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms hit each year, many of them deadly.

Poorly-maintained, loosely-regulated ferries are the backbone of maritime travel in the sprawling archipelago.

But this has led to frequent accidents that have claimed hundreds of lives in recent years, including the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster in 1987 when the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker, leaving more than 4,300 dead.

Thursday 2 July 2015

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/611124/death-toll-mounts-after-packed-philippine-ferry-capsizes

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Navy adds ocean rescue teams after 2014 ferry accident

South Korea's Navy launched new rescue teams Wednesday to beef up its emergency response to maritime accidents after the sinking of the ferry Sewol killed more than 300 people last year.

Three rescue operation teams, each composed of about 15 deep-sea divers, will kick off their operations under three Navy fleets covering the eastern, western and southern waters, the Navy said in a statement.

The new teams are mainly tasked with initial-stage response and rescue operations in maritime disaster situations, with captain-level officers heading the teams, according to the Navy.

The creation of the rescue teams is part of the Navy's efforts to prevent a repeat of last year's ferry sinking, it noted.

Succumbing to strong currents and overloading, the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol sank off the southwest coast on April 16, 2014, leaving 304 people dead or missing, most of them high school students on a field trip.

The high death toll was mainly blamed on government rescue bodies' fumbled disaster response in the initial stage of the accident.

With the deployment of new diving gear and search equipment, the teams will be able to dive as deep as 58 meters for an extended time, the Navy added.

"Since the Sewol accident, the Navy charted a plan on improving its rescue capacity and has steadily advanced that capacity to rescue speedily and systematically in a maritime accident," according to the statement.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150701000795

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Projects in South Korea to recover Sewol ferry

Some twenty companies presented projects to recover the Sewol ferry, sunken at sea in April 2014 with a total of 304 fatalities and missing people, said governmental sources today.

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, amid the projects presented from last May 23 are the ones suggested by companies from South Korea and also from China, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The projects will be reviewed in early July and the name of the company chosen to recover the ferryboat will be released later that same month, said the source.

The decision to recover the ferry was taken meeting the claims of the victims' relatives, who want to identify the exact cause of the accident and find the bodies of the missing people, said recently the news agency Yonhap.

Following the tragedy, the management of President Park Geun-hye was subjected to strong social criticism due to the irregularities that led to the sinking of the ferryboat.

The Sewol ferry, weighing more than 6,800 tons, sank offshore the Jindo Island (southwest) while traveling from Incheon to the Jeju Island.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3919781&Itemid=1

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China ferry disaster death toll 442 as final bodies recovered from wreck

The toll from a river cruise ship which sank on China's Yangtze river has been confirmed as 442 today, state media reported, with the last of the bodies found and removed from the wreck.

The disaster is China's worst shipping accident in more than 70 years.

Only 12 people survived when the Eastern Star river cruise ship capsized during a storm on June 1, Tang Guanjun, the director of the river's navigation authority, told Xinhua news agency.

All of the dead have now been identified using DNA testing and the bodies have been handed over to relatives, he said. Of the 442 dead, 426 bodies have already been cremated, in line with Chinese custom.

A total of 454 people, mainly tourists in their 60s, were on the ship when it sank in what witnesses said was less than a minute. Weather officials said a freak tornado hit the area at the time and it is believed the vessel may have taken a direct hit.

Tang said earlier reports that 14 people had survived out of 456 had been corrected after "further check-ups and verifications", according to Xinhua.

The final toll comes after search and rescue personnel last week held a memorial for the dead with relatives who gathered from across China near the disaster site.

Information about the sinking, and media access to the site and to relatives of passengers, has been tightly controlled by the state, with online criticism of the search quickly deleted.

Teams searched the ship for days after it had been righted, going cabin to cabin. Poor weather and visibility hampered rescue efforts before the vessel was refloated. The search area was also extended to 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) of the Yangtze, Asia's longest river, in the hope of finding those still missing.

Search and rescue efforts have now been cancelled, with all attention turning to the ongoing investigation into the sinking.

Sunday 14 June 2015

http://www.indiagazette.com/index.php/sid/233786449

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Eastern Star disaster: 342 bodies identified

Forensic experts are using DNA matching to identify bodies from the Eastern Star ship disaster. As of Thursday morning, 342 bodies had been identified, but the forensic experts' work is far from a simple process.

One hundred and seventy specialized medical workers have been working around the clock to match DNA samples with those from the bodies.

The process is taking place in the DNA laboratories of the public security bureaus in the cities of Wuhan and Jingzhou, in central China's Hubei province.

The matching process needs DNA samples from both the victim and their direct family. Many of the families are in different places in China. For those who do not have direct family—or have only one direct family member—experts will try other methods to identify the bodies. In some cases, they will compare the victims' DNA to those collected from items of their daily use.

Eight provinces and cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Jiangsu, have begun to collect DNA samples from the victims' homes. And the public security bureaus will continue to work around the clock to identify every victim of the Eastern Star ship disaster.

Thursday 11 June 2015

http://www.ecns.cn/2015/06-11/168967.shtml

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Search for Bodies in Capsized Eastern Star Ship Search Ends: Identification of Victims Begins, Seach for 8 Missing People Continues in River

China has confirmed that 434 bodies have been found and eight are still missing from the Eastern Star cruise ship, which capsized on the Yangtze River following a tornado on the night of June 1. Officials have began identifying the victims and releasing their bodies to their relatives.

According to local sources, DNA identification and forensic analysis is being used to help identify the victims in order to have their bodies returned to their families. Experts have already collected DNA samples from the recovered bodies.

They also finished collecting blood samples from the victims' relatives who helped in their identification. Presently, up to 281 victims have been identified through their DNA, according to CCTV. On Tuesday, encoffiners in Jianli County began to hold encoffination ceremonies for the 434 victims of the Yangtze River accident, according to Xinhua.

Min Jianxion, associate counsel for China's Ministry of Public Security, said authorities will use different methods to to identify victims from their DNA if their immediate relatives are not available.

According to CRI English, one option is to dispatch people to the residences of the victims in order to collect DNA samples from their immediate relatives and match them with the bodies found.

Experts consider DNA sampling to be one of the most reliable ways of identifing a person. China reportedly has 145 DNA testing specialists divided into 21 groups, who are responsible for collecting and matching victims' DNA. Once matches are confirmed, the personal belongings of the victims will also be returned to their relatives.

Meanwhile, insurance companies have initiated a "green channel" so that relatives of the victims of the capsized Easter Star can speed up their claims.

China Insurance Regulatory Commission deputy chairman, Huang Hong, said insurance companies have been told to make the claiming process simpler and faster. Under normal circumstances, the death certificate or certificate of permanent residence de-registration of the insured person must be presented to forward claims, however, this step has reportedly been ignored. All they have to do now is get the certificate from the government before they can avail claims.

Meanwhile, Global Times reported that the Eastern Star will be moved from the site in order to allow divers to continue their search for the missing victims. The ship will be tugged 10km upstream in Jianli County. The search for the remaining eight people would reportedly be extended to approximately 1300 km along the Yangtze River, where the Eastern Star ship capsized while going downstream to Shanghai's Wusong Estuary.

Wednesday 10 June 2015

http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/53162/20150610/china-confirms-434-dead-eight-missing-in-capsized-ship.htm

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204 bodies from Eastern Star identified by DNA matching

Ten days have passed since a tornado upturned the Eastern Star cruise ship. With two more bodies found, eight passengers are still missing and the death toll has reached 434.

The search mission inside the ship has been completed. The focus of the search has now turned to the river bottom, especially among the huge rocks underwater. Police are also searching along the river's downstream.

More than 140 forensic experts are identifying the dead through DNA testing and arranging funeral services. Officials say more than 200 bodies have been identified by DNA matching. Authorities have started to hand over the bodies to their family members.



Video footage reveals the devastation inside the cruise ship in China which capsized in a freak storm on the Yangtze river last week. Rescue teams use circular saws to cut through muddy mangled metal in the hull as passengers' personal belongings lie strewn around. They are continuing with a detailed search of the ship.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

http://english.cntv.cn/2015/06/09/VIDE1433816761417446.shtml

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/jun/08/china-devastation-inside-capsized-yangtze-cruise-ship-video

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China completes DNA collection to identify ship dead

China has completed the DNA collection needed to identify the 432 bodies recovered so far from last week's deadly Yangtze boat disaster.

The Eastern Star, mostly carrying elderly tourists, capsized on 1 June near Jianli in Hubei province.

Just 14 of the 456 passengers and crew are known to have survived.

A search is continuing for eight people who remain missing. Authorities have extended the search area to 1,000km (621 miles) downriver. The sinking was the worst maritime disaster China has seen in decades.

DNA matching

Authorities are now planning to collect DNA from family members for matching purposes.

A spokesman for China's public security ministry, Min Jianxiong, told reporters that they expect to finish matching the DNA within the next few days, and added that a number of victims had already been identified.

Meanwhile authorities have begun cremating victims so that they can return their ashes to their families for burial, as per Chinese custom.

The BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing says activity has moved from the hollow shell of the capsized cruise ship to a nearby morgue.

Relatives were seen weeping as they arrived at the morgue in Jianli to have one last look at their loved ones before cremation, AP reported.

On Sunday - a week after the disaster took place - many congregated by the shore of the Yangtze to hold mourning ceremonies.

Meanwhile new pictures emerged of the interior of the Eastern Star - known as Dongfangzhixing in Chinese - which was pulled upright on Friday for search operations over the weekend.

Searchers said rooms were "severely ruined" and strewn with debris.

The top floor was crushed and rescuers had to break into rooms using chainsaws, according to Reuters news agency.

Our correspondent says questions still linger as to how the massive ship sank in just a few minutes, without anyone issuing a distress call.

Some in the Chinese state media argue that modifications to the ship's interior made it more difficult for those on board to escape in an emergency.

Others point to the possibility of human error and have questioned the decision to continue sailing in rough weather.

The Chinese authorities arrested the ship's captain and chief engineer, who were among the survivors, but they have not announced plans for a criminal inquiry into the disaster.

The cause of the sinking is not yet known, but survivors have spoken of an intense storm which flipped the boat over in minutes.

Monday 8 June 2015

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-33044963

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