Oh my gosh, I can't help but cry when I heard the devastating news about what happened to MV Princess of the Stars, and all the victims of Frank typhoon.

MV Princess of the Stars (alternatively, Princess of Stars)is a ferry owned by Filipino shipping company Sulpicio Lines that capsized off the coast of San Fernando, Romblon at the height of Typhoon Fengshen on June 22, 2008.

Built in 1984, the 23,824-tonne ferry MV Princess of the Stars had a total passenger capacity of 1,992 people.

The MV Princess of the Stars flagship of the Sulpicio Lines fleet, left the port of Manila on June 21, 2008 on its way to Cebu City. The number of passengers is variously reported between 700 and 800. The ferry sent a distress signal late on June 21 when its engines stalled in rough seas near Sibuyan Island. San Fernando mayor Nanette Tansingco sent a speedboat and confirmed that the ferry had a hole in the hull, was partially submerged and that several bodies had been found nearby.

As of June 23, four bodies were recovered by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy. According to the Coast Guard, the ferry's manifest recorded 702 passengers including 50 children as well as 100 crew. The civil defense office said the ship carried 626 passengers and 121 crew members. Three Navy vessels were dispatched but one had to abort its mission due to "gigantic waves, pounding rain, and gusty winds," said Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo, spokesman of the Philippine Navy.

Sulpicio admitted that 860 were on board as the ferry capsized: "There were 751 manifested passengers and 111 crew members on board the capsized vessel." The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) suspended all sea travel operations of the Sulpicio. Sulpicio lines released the names of 32 survivors with the complete passenger manifest and crew list uploaded on their website at http://www.sulpiciolines.com/

You can watch the related videos below.

• Hundreds feared dead after ferry capsizes off Philippines, CBC News
• Coast Guard nears site where 'MV Princess of Stars' capsized, GMANews.TV
• Four bodies recovered, found from sunken ship, GMANews.TV
• No living survivors found inside capsized Philippines ferry, CBC News
  
  Source: Wikipedia
  

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