Ferry docked at Zamboanga port sinks

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A passenger boat docked at a port in this city capsized after it was battered by strong waves spawned by the Intertropical Convergence Zone before dawn yesterday.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the incident occurred at around 3 a.m. involving the steel-hulled fastcraft of the Weesam Express.

The boat was scheduled to depart at 6:45 a.m. for Isabela City in Basilan.

The PCG said no one was injured or killed in the incident.

Boat captain Limuel Sabanal said the engine room sustained damage possibly due to wear and tear, which allowed seawater to enter into the vessel.

Sabanal said the crewmembers detected water entering the engine room shortly before the vessel capsized.

Despite efforts to seal the tear and pump out water, the vessel started to lose balance and tilted until it sank.

Sabanal said the disaster could have been prevented had the engine room personnel informed him earlier that the boat was experiencing mechanical trouble.

“If they had reported the problem yesterday, we would have canceled the voyage immediately and addressed repairs,” Sabanal said.

He said the crewmembers tried to control the flooding using onboard pumps, but to no avail.

“Our personnel tried, but the pump couldn’t keep up with the large volume of water coming in. Within a few minutes the vessel was already listing,” Sabanal said.

He said that as the vessel tilted, he ordered all crewmembers to abandon ship.

By sunrise, the vessel had submerged, with only its upper deck visible before finally capsizing.

The PCG immediately installed spill booms to contain any oil leak.