Court orders compensation for ship disaster victims’ families

Manila: A Philippine court has ordered a shipping firm to pay families of the victims of a 2008 maritime sea disaster that claimed the lives of more than 800 people.

Manila regional trial court judge Daniel Villanueva ordered the owners of the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp, formerly the Sulpicio Lines, to pay the families of victims of the MV Princess of the Stars tragedy, the amount of P241.7 million (Dh19.38 million).

The MV Princess of the Stars sank on June 21, 2008 in the Sibuyan Sea in Central Philippines during the onslaught of typhoon Frank (International code name: Fengshen).

The Board of Maritime Inquiry, which investigated the tragedy, earlier said it would not have occurred if the 23,800 tonne roll-on-roll-off ferry did not sail, as there had been advance information that a typhoon was coming in hours before the tragedy.

The vessel was bound for Cebu from Manila.

The MV Princess of the Stars sank in the area at close to San Fernando in Romblon province.

With the help of lawyers from the Public Assistance Office, a group of victims and their families led by Celerna Calayag, sued Span Asia for the mishap in 2009.

In his decision, Judge Villanueva ruled that lawyers of Calayag and the other victims had been able to prove that Span Asia committed negligence that led to what is considered one of the country’s worst maritime disasters in recent years.

“Defendants [Span Asia] miserably failed in this duty, because the MV Princess of the Stars never reached its destination as it capsized along the waters of Sibuyan, San Fernando in Romblon,” according to the ruling.

“In a contract of carriage, it is presumed that the common carrier is at fault or is negligent when a passenger dies or is injured,” said the decision.

Span Asia is owned by Sulpicio Lines Inc a shipping firm that had gained notoriety for getting involved in local maritime disasters that led to the loss of lives of thousands of Filipinos through the years.

Sulpicio Lines also had in its fleet the MV Dona Paz that was involved in the worst peacetime maritime disaster.

The Dona Paz tragedy claimed the lives of more than 4,386 people in December 20, 1987.

After the Princess of the Stars tragedy, the Maritime Industry Authority ordered all vessels of Sulpicio Lines grounded and the firm had to change its name to Span Asia.

Span Asia and Sulpicio are owned by the Go family, a Cebu-based Chinese-Filipino clan that made its fortune after the Second World War when they bought surplus military transport ships from the US.