The MV ''Princess of the Orient'' was a passenger ferry owned by

Sulpicio Lines Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corporation (PSACC), formerly branded as Sulpicio Lines, Inc. (SLI, ), is a major shipping line in the Philippines. PSACC is one of the largest domestic shipping and container companies in the Philippines in terms o ...

that sank off Fortune Island, near the provinces of

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

and

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and La ...

in the island of Luzon, The

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on September 18, 1998. The ship was originally built in Japan as ''Sun Flower 11'' ( ja, さんふらわあ11, Sanfurawā 11) in 1974 where she served as a cruise ferry before being sold to Sulpicio Lines in 1993.

Background

The ferry was built in 1973 by Shin Kurushima Dockyard, as one of the five ships in the Sun Flower series for Nippon Kosoku Ferry Co., Ltd. ( ja, 日本高速フェリー, Nippon Kosoku Ferī) in Japan. She was named the ''Sun Flower 11'' ( ja, さんふらわあ11, Sanfurawā 11). The ship was designed differently from the other ships of the fleet, resembling a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

of its era, with two funnels and a rounded superstructure. The ship entered service on the

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

route in October 1974. Blue Highway Line acquired the ferry in November 1990, and renamed her ''Sun Flower Satsuma'' ( ja, さんふらわあさつま, Sanfurawā Satsuma). She measured 13,935

gross tons Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

and was 195.7 meters long. She had a capacity of 3,995 passengers and crew. After 19 years of service in Japan, she was retired and sold to

in 1993. A cargo ramp on the starboard bow was fitted on the ship, plus an extension of passenger decks. She became the flagship of the Sulpicio fleet due to her size and beauty. She was the largest Philippine-based passenger ferry in service until the arrival of

MV Princess of the Stars MV ''Princess of the Stars'' (or just ''Princess of the Stars'') was a passenger ferry owned by Filipino shipping company Sulpicio Lines, that capsized and sank on June 21, 2008, off the coast of San Fernando, Romblon, at the height of Typhoo ...

in 2004. She was the only Philippine-based ferry with

automatic stabilizers In macroeconomics, automatic stabilizers are features of the structure of modern government budgets, particularly income taxes and welfare spending, that act to damp out fluctuations in real GDP. The size of the government budget deficit tends to ...

at the time. In 1997 the ship was damaged after its engine room caught fire while docked at

Manila North Harbor The Port of Manila ( fil, Pantalan ng Maynila) refers to the collective facilities and terminals that process maritime trade function in harbors in Metro Manila. Located in the Port Area and Tondo districts of Manila, Philippines facing the M ...

and was sent to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

for repairs. As a result, the stabilizers remained un-operational, and she developed a slight but noticeable list on her port side, a sign which was inconsequential until mid-1998.

Sinking

On September 18, 1998 around almost 10 PM, the ''Princess of the Orient'' sailed from

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Acc ...

during the onslaught of typhoon Vicki. Initially, a list of three degrees was observed at the portside, which had continuously increased. At the same, time, winds and waves were hitting the ship on its starboard side. The waves were at least seven to eight meters in height and the wind velocity was 25 knots. Due to large swells and excessive movement, the solid and liquid cargo below decks shifted its weight to port, contributing to the tilted position of the ship. The captain ordered a reduction in the ship's speed to 14 knots, and put ballast water in the starboard-heeling tank, hoping to stop the continuous listing of the ship. This action was in vain, as the vessel was already listing between 15 and 20 degrees to her portside. In spite of being in a dangerous situation, the captain performed various starboard maneuvers, which added to the ship's tilting. As the ship was already inclined at an angle of 15 degrees along with the instantaneous movement of the ship, the cargo below deck completely shifted in position and weight towards portside. Two hours after leaving Manila harbor, the ferry tilted 30 to 45 degrees to its port side, making it impossible to recover. The ship foundered at 12:55 a.m. near Fortune Island and sank. Of the 388 passengers on board, 150 were killed. Either being trapped inside the ferry or being swept away by the waves, eventually drowning. The remaining survivors floated at sea for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to reach them.

Wreck

The wreck is resting on her Port side at below sea level near Fortune Island. The wreck remained intact since its sinking. In the early 2000s, John Bennett and Ron Loos made the first scuba dives to the wreck site. It appeared probable that the cause of the sinking was due to the cargo on the ship not being lashed properly. The rough seas from Typhoon Vicki caused the cargo of the ship to shift, causing the ship to tilt to one side, resulting in the sinking. In 2018 and 2019, a mixed gas 5-man international

rebreather A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's breathing, exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. ...

team captured images of the wreck and explored it, at depths up to 128m.

Notes and references

External links

Ship Awry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Of The Orient, Mv Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Ferries of the Philippines Maritime incidents in the Philippines Maritime incidents in 1998 1998 in the Philippines 1974 ships

Background

Sinking

Wreck

See also

Notes and references

External links