At least 18 dead after ferry carrying more than 350 sinks in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — A ferry carrying more than 350 people sank early Monday morning near an island in the southern Philippines, leaving at least 18 people dead.

Rescue teams saved hundreds of survivors while Coast Guard and Navy vessels continued to search for approximately two dozen people still missing.

The Coast Guard reported that the M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, a steel-hulled passenger and cargo ferry, appeared to suffer a technical failure after midnight. The vessel suddenly tilted to one side and took on water, throwing passengers into the sea in the darkness.

The ferry was traveling from the port city of Zamboanga to Jolo island in Sulu province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members on board. Weather conditions were reportedly good at the time of the accident.

Coast Guard Commander Romel Dua said the ship went down about one nautical mile from Baluk-baluk Island in Basilan province.

Rescuers have accounted for at least 316 survivors and recovered 18 bodies. Coast Guard and Navy ships, supported by surveillance planes and helicopters, are scouring the area for the remaining missing passengers.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the sinking.

MANILA — The sinking of the M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 is a tragedy, but in the context of the Philippines’ maritime history, it is a predictable one. This latest disaster underscores a persistent regulatory deficit and systemic vulnerabilities that have long plagued the archipelago’s shipping industry.

For decades, the sector has been defined by a recurring cycle of failure. Maritime accidents in the Philippines are rarely isolated incidents; they are the byproduct of a volatile mix of seasonal typhoons, aging fleets, chronic overcrowding, and a lapse in regulatory enforcement—particularly in the more remote provincial corridors where oversight is often thinnest.

The fact that two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) safety officers were aboard the vessel and managed to trigger a distress signal suggests that some level of operational protocol was followed. However, their presence raises a more damning question regarding the vessel’s seaworthiness. If authorized personnel were on site and a catastrophe still occurred, the failure likely lies in the pre-departure technical inspection phase or a critical mechanical failure resulting from deferred maintenance. This highlights a disconnect between active monitoring and the rigorous enforcement of technical standards.

The invocation of the 1987 Dona Paz disaster—the world’s deadliest peacetime maritime tragedy—is more than a historical footnote. It serves as a grim benchmark for the lack of structural progress in the intervening four decades. Despite advancements in global maritime technology, the fundamental risks facing Filipino commuters remain largely unchanged.

Until the government addresses the root causes of the crisis—namely the quality of technical inspections, the modernization of aging fleets, and the accountability of maritime regulators—these tragedies will continue to be a permanent fixture of the nation’s transport landscape rather than an anomaly.