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OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100253Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5129
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RHOVQHS/COMSEVENTHFLT  IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001909 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/EX AND EAP/MTS 
STATE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID SOCI EAGR SENV PREL RP
SUBJECT: RAPID U.S./PHILIPPINES RESPONSE TO FERRY SINKING SAVES 
LIVES 
 
REF: A) MANILA 1504 B) Manila 1521 C) Manila 1543 D) Manila 1560 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In yet another major maritime disaster, a large 
ferry carrying 968 manifested passengers and crew sank September 6 
off the southwest coast of Mindanao island.  As of early afternoon 
September 9, the Philippines National Disaster Coordinating Council 
(NDCC) reported nine confirmed fatalities, and 959 rescued 
passengers from Superferry 9.  All the dead are identified and none 
are American citizens.  At the request of the Armed Forces of the 
Philippines (AFP), U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force - 
Philippines (JSOTF-P) maritime and air assets assisted Philippine 
military and civilian in rescue and recovery.  The Philippine 
Government has confined to port other vessels of the ferry's parent 
company, suspended the crew and taken the ferry's captain into 
custody.  The Philippine Coast Guard has scheduled an inquiry to 
begin September 10.  Philippine and international media reports have 
recognized U.S. efforts and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto 
Teodoro personally thanked the Ambassador for the assistance 
provided.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) According to the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating 
Council (NDCC), the Philippine Coast Guard received a distress call 
at approximately 0330 hours on September 6 that MV Superferry 9 
(SF9) of the Aboitz Transport System Corporation was listing heavily 
ten nautical miles west of Siocon city, Zamboanga del Norte.  The 
vessel was carrying 968 manifested persons.  After all passengers 
and crew abandoned ship, SF9 capsized and then submerged at 0910 
hours.  Although the September 9 edition of the Malaya newspaper 
reported the recovery of a tenth body, a NDCC spokesman told EconOff 
at 1400 hours on September 9 that until the tenth fatality was 
confirmed by the Coast Guard the NDCC would maintain its position 
that all manifested passengers and crew are accounted for, with nine 
confirmed fatalities and 959 rescued survivors.  All the dead are 
identified and none are American citizens. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Air and water craft from the Philippine Air Force, Navy, 
and Coast Guard, as well as civilian fishing and commercial vessels 
responded to the distress call.  The U.S. Joint Special Operations 
Task Force - Philippines (JSOTF-P) received a request for support 
from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and immediately 
dispatched maritime vessels with rescue swimmers, medical personnel 
and supplies.  The JSOTF-P vessels searched a 25 square mile area 
for survivors, delivered water to a Philippine Navy vessel carrying 
survivors, and ferried one injured female to hospital in Zamboanga 
City.  A JSOTF-P helicopter transported AFP leadership to the scene 
and then assisted the search for survivors. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Passengers quoted in media reports attributed the sinking 
to various causes.  Some described the ferry as already listing upon 
departure from General Santos city, while others noted that cargo 
loudly shifted mid-voyage, after which the crew ordered passengers 
to the opposite side of the vessel to compensate for the ship's 
listing.  Still other passengers said the ships' engines stopped 
working, and others blamed a crack in the hull for the sinking.  Mr. 
Tino Sison, Deputy Chief for Operations for the NDCC told EconOff 
that the absence of a fire or explosion discounted terrorist 
involvement, and that an official explanation would have to wait for 
results of a government investigation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) On September 7 the Philippine Department of 
Transportation's Maritime Industry Authority ordered the Aboitz 
Corporation to cease operating ten of its transport vessels and 
suspended the 112 crew members of SF9.  The vessel's captain is in 
Coast Guard custody.  Aboitz appealed the suspension the next day, 
asking that four vessels in its fleet be exempted because they had 
passed technical and safety inspections this year.  That exemption 
was partially granted on September 9 with the suspension limited to 
the remaining four superferry vessels in the firm's fleet.  The 
Philippine Coast Guard announced that it would lead a special board 
of marine inquiry September 10 to investigate the sinking. 
 
Oil Spill to Follow? 
 
¶6. (SBU) A four square mile oil slick has officials worried that the 
ferry's fuel as well as 250 tons of oil cargo carried by the vessel 
may be leaking.  The Coast Guard has deployed a vessel equipped with 
spill booms to assess and monitor leakage from the sunken ferry. 
Similarly, the Aboitz Corporation has retained the service of a 
private oil response vessel, the Harbor Star. 
 
A Deadly Tradition Continues 
 
MANILA 00001909  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The sinking of SF9 is only the latest in a long series of 
maritime catastrophes.  Three other vessels sank in Philippine 
waters with the loss of two lives in the days before and after the 
SF9 went down.  In May, 12 lives were lost when the ferry MV 
Commander 6 sank south of Manila, while four 2008 ferry disasters 
claimed over 900 lives (Reftels).  The Philippines' deadliest 
maritime disaster, the 1987 sinking of the ferry Dona Paz that cost 
over 4,000 lives, was the subject of an August 25 National 
Geographic channel documentary. 
 
Budget Airlines and Government Subsidies Squeeze Private Ferries 
 
¶8. (SBU) Founded by one of the country's leading families in 1907, 
and once a mainstay of inter-island travel, the Aboitz Transport 
System Corporation has seen increasing numbers of its customers 
switch to budget airlines and government subsidized-roll-on roll-off 
vessels ('ro-ros').  While a Manila to Cebu ferry trip is an all day 
affair, local budget airline Cebu Pacific makes the trip in just 
over an hour.  The ro-ros, by making regular stops at smaller 
islands not served by the larger shipping companies, have seen 
passenger traffic increase from 130,000 to 700,000 passengers 
between 2003 and 2007, according to Henry Basilio, a transportation 
expert at the University of Asia and the Pacific.  In response, 
shipping companies such as Aboitz have slashed ticket prices by 80 
percent or more but have been forced to rely increasingly on cargo 
when the volume of passenger traffic did not rebound. 
 
Comment: 
 
¶9. (SBU) While extreme weather contributes to Philippines' 
unenviable reputation as the maritime disaster capital of the world, 
poor maintenance, overloading, and lax enforcement of safety 
regulations are also to blame.  Whether squeezed profit margins led 
the Aboitz Corp. to cut safety corners or overload cargo in this 
case will likely be addressed during the upcoming Coast Guard 
investigation. 
 
¶10. (SBU) On a positive note, the aberration in this case was the 
small number of casualties.  The quick and effective response of the 
Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, 
civilian mariners and JSOTF-P greatly minimized the loss of life. 
The significant contribution of U.S. forces demonstrated our strong 
commitment and partnership with the Republic of the Philippines, 
which was noted both in Philippine and international news media 
reports and in the personal thanks expressed by Defense Secretary 
Teodoro to the Ambassador.  JSOTF-P's good work on the ferry 
accident serves as the latest example of the important benefits that 
U.S. forces, operating under the Visiting Forces Agreement, provide 
to the Philippines. End comment. 
 
 
 
KENNEY