Coron ferry fire faces deeper probe as death toll rises

In the latest update from Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab on Saturday, 12 September, initial data showed 43 survivors, 53 missing persons and 35 fatalities in the ongoing search and rescue operations for the passengers and crew of MV June Aster in the waters off Coron, Palawan.

The recorded survivors include 30 passengers and 13 crew members. However, the ferry's captain has yet to be accounted for. As authorities continue to search for him, Cayabyab said they received information from a representative of the shipping company that the captain was alive but had yet to be located, prompting authorities to conduct a deeper investigation.

Following the declaration of fire out and subsequent safety assessment, with no oil spill or oil sheen observed, PCG, with the help of other joint agencies continues to do the operation beyond the data of rescued and missing bodies; but the cause and the events occurred in the Ferry as well as the people that will be held accountable with the incident.

Currently, the authorities main focus is the continued success of the transferring of the cadavers. Personnel aspires to not just bring but show respect to the body and the family it belongs to. Bodies were brought to the Port of Borac, Coron, Palawan, today.

Along with the continued search operation, Spokesperson Cayabyab also noted further investigation into the cause, crew response and the passengers pattern of exit during the fire mentioning that one of the survivors testified that they heard an explosion before the incident.

Another thing that the Authorities are eyeing to investigate is the reason why the passengers didn’t get to immediately exit the ferry, the investigation will search if the people were trapped based also on the position of the casualties recovered inside.

One of the targeted personnels to be investigated as well are the crew, shipping company and the captain– mentioned by the PCG to be facing the highest accountability since he is the captain of the ship expected to be the main person to manage the situation; if the implying of policies are appropriate, the regulatory action during the fire was applied and if enough life jackets are all designated to the passengers.

PCG will further proceed with 2 main investigations with the main concerns that they are planning to study. The maritime safety investigation and the maritime front investigation covering all the survivors’ testimonies.

Spokesperson Caybayab also addressed the allegation that one of the possible reasons of the incident is the carrying more than the ferry’s capacity. Cayabyab mentioned with the data that the total passengers are 134, with 2 people not on board yet the capacity is for 306 passengers and 27 crews which shows that it is not mainly the cause yet also citing that the data still might change eventually.

The incident happened last 9 of September at 6:45 PM after an employee of Atienza Shipping Line reported at the Coast Guard Station Coron about the fire incident, requesting immediate assistance.

On Friday, 11 September, at 8:30 AM, firefighting operations started onboard the vessel and declared fire out at 10:15 AM.