The Doña Paz Disaster
Wednesday, December 20th, 2017December 20, 2017
Thirty years ago today, on Dec. 20, 1987, the Filipino ferry Doña Paz went down in the Tablas Strait between the Philippine islands of Marinduque and Mindoro. The Doña Paz burned and sank after colliding with an oil tanker, which also burned and sank. More than 4,000 people died in the accident, making the loss of the Doña Paz the worst maritime disaster ever to occur during peacetime.
The Doña Paz was ferrying passengers from Leyte Island to Manila, the Philippine capital, on the island of Luzon. According to the ship’s manifest (list of cargo), 1,583 passengers and about 60 crew members were on board. However, the ship was carrying many more people. The manifest did not include many children, people who bought their ticket after boarding, and others. Many witnesses claimed the ship was dangerously overcrowded. It is believed to have had as many as 4,400 people on board.
Around 10 p.m. on December 20, the Doña Paz collided with the Philippine oil tanker Vector. The Vector, with a crew of 13, was carrying about 8,800 barrels of oil. When the ships collided, the oil immediately caught fire. Both ships burst into flames, and burning oil spread over the sea. Many Doña Paz passengers jumped into the fiery waters and drowned. Others were trapped in the burning ferry as it sank. Only 26 people—24 passengers from the Doña Paz and 2 crew members from the Vector—survived.
A coast guard report stated that only an apprentice mate (a junior member of the bridge crew) was on duty on the Doña Paz at the time of the accident. But in 1988, a board of marine inquiry found the Vector at fault for the collision. The Vector was operating with an expired license and an unqualified crew.