The other possible scenario concerns the very and original role of the Super Ferry 9 itself when first commissioned, that of a roll-on roll-off (RORO) car and passenger ferry.
On 6 March 1987 the Herald of Free Enterprise, a roll-on roll-off ferry herself and owned by Townsend Thoresen, was operating on the regular Dover to Calais route across the English Channel. On that eventful evening and which at the time would lead to the worst maritime disaster involving a British registered ship in peacetime since 1919, the ship left the port of Zeebrugge at 6:05pm British time with a crew of 80 and carrying 459 passengers.
Once the ferry had reached 18.9 knots (33 km/h) and only 90 seconds after leaving the harbor, water began to enter the car deck in vast quantities. Within seconds, at 6:28pm, the ship began to list 30 degrees to port left] before she briefly righted herself before then listing to port once more and this time capsizing. This entire event took place in less than a minute. Truly shocking. In the aftermath 193 passengers and crew had lost their lives and I would later meet a number of the Royal Navy Divers that attend the scene to assist with the sad and dangerous process of recovering many victims left inside the vessel. The cause of this incident was soon attributed to not closing the bow doors before she set sail.
One wonders if -
A) the side doors that had been welded suddenly fail? One passenger Nicolas Rosete said they heard a loud sound that was immediately followed by the ferry tilting over some more, could this noise have resulted from the sudden failure of a major weld joint? Mr. Rosete said he had noticed the ship was already slightly tilted when they left Makar Wharf at General Santos City on Saturday, although he felt this was normal?
B) Did insecure and heavy cargo suddenly move and cause it to find a weak point in the side of the vessel?
C) Collision although I feel the chances of a collision with another vessel are highly unlikely as no exterior damage can be seen from the pictures available nor was this event noted by anyone on board. However this was in the very early hours of the morning so the possibilities are there of course, but I still think not in this instance. Certainly if there was a collision it would have been with a much smaller vessel and one which sank instantaneously on impact. Neither wreckage nor evidence of any other vessels was located at the scene.
The Captain of the Super Ferry 9, Captain Jose Yap has since informed a board of inquiry that it must have been the strong winds that caused the ship to lean towards the right. I find this statement a little strange because surely as a certified Captain he would know for certain if strong winds had factored in the loss of the vessel.
His testimony is already being called into question, both by Mr. Rosete who stated that there was no strong wind during their entire trip from General Santos City until they reached the seas of Zamboanga del Norte. The Coast Guard have also denied the presence of such strong winds, coast guard officials stating the weather in the area was reported clear at that time although a tropical storm lashed the northern Philippines.
Some have now gone onto say that the vessel sank due to engine or technical problems, with these problems solely causing it to tilt and eventually sink? I find this a remarkable thing to say – how could a faulty generator or technical faults deep within the bowls of the ship, and fixed in place within the engine room, possibly lead to the vessel to tilt? No explosion of raging fire through any internal mechanical fault has been muted by anyone and this is the only possible cause for the vessel to succumb and then eventually sink.
Interesting enough Mr. Rosete also added in his interview that when he asked to speak with the Captain; from what I can gather reading between the lines whom he already knew, that some crew said he was 'not to contact' the Captain. Rosete going on to say that the same crew member reportedly advised Rosete and the other passengers to get on their knees and crawl towards the nearest exit.
Sadly Mr. Rosete was traveling with his wife, Aida and their 11-year old son Nick Angelo who remain missing at this time.
In conclusion the full facts leading to this incident remain unclear and deserve a thorough investigation. The on going an appalling situation with various companies ferrying people around the islands of the Philippines is getting to the point of farcical - to many incidents are occurring and too many lives are being lost.
I feel the Captains account should be investigated thoroughly and if at all possible, an ROV [Remotely Operated Vehicle] sent into the vessel to locate any of the possibilities that I have suggested and which may well have led to this sudden turn of events for this vessel.
We can only be grateful that the entire vessel did not suffer the same fate as the Herald of Free Enterprise, which was lost within 1 minute, albeit in much shallower waters. Super Ferry 9 was in Deep Ocean and although ten families are grieving for their losses we very nearly had a situation where almost 900 lives could have been lost.
Super Ferry 9, a 7,268-ton ship, was built in 1986 by Usuki Iron Works Ltd. at Saiki, Japan, and launched as the Ariake. It was converted in 1995 in Cebu City for William Lines Incorporated and was renamed Mabuhay 5. In 1996, the ship was renamed SuperFerry 9 and has been operated by Aboitiz Transport System Corp (ATSC) since that time
Length 141.5 m (464 ft)
Beam 23.0 m (75 ft)
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The Sinking Of Superferry 9
Nearly 100 Passengers Missing
By Mike Groves
