The Philippine Coast Guard and volunteers rescued all 85 passengers and crew who were on inter-island ferry M/V Asia Philippines (IMO 7434262), which caught fire as it approached a port south of Manila on August 26th.
Many of the passengers jumped into the water as the flames were fanned by strong winds, causing the fire to spread rapidly throughout the vessel.
The ferry was carrying 47 passengers and 38 crewmembers.
An original manifest of 49 passengers had led to fears that two were missing. It transpired that the pair had taken a different ferry.
It had arrived from Calapan city Oriental Mindoro province and was about a mile from Batangas port when smoke emerged from the second deck, quickly followed by flames, according to one of the rescued passengers.
The ferry’s closeness to the port enabled a rapid rescue of the victims even though night had fallen. PCG vessels and nearby ships, motor bancas and tugboats helped in the rescue. The fire gutted the ferry, which had also been carrying at least 16 cars and trucks, PCG officials said.
No AIS since August 28th when the vessel was about a mile south of Batangas, Philippines.
1975-built, Philippines-flagged, 1,053 gt Asia Philippines is owned and managed by Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines.
