Divers, submersible equipment join search for victims of Basilan ferry sinking

MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard said Wednesday it deployed divers and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to scour the ocean for survivors of a ferry sinking that killed at least 18 people.

The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 was carrying 344 passengers and crew when it went down off Basilan in the early hours of Monday. Most people were rescued in the immediate aftermath.

The 10 passengers still unaccounted for include the ferry's captain, eight crew members and a safety marshall, PCG Commandant Ronnie Gavan said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

PCG Spokesperson Captain Noemie Cayabyab said the ROV can survey submerged areas with limited visibility and challenging sea conditions to provide data that would guide divers.    

This handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) taken and received on January 26, 2026 shows survivors of the sunken M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 being transferred to another ship in waters off Basilan province. A ferry carrying 342 passengers sank on January 26 morning in the southern Philippines, leaving at least eight dead, a local mayor said. Handout/Philippine Coast Guard via AFP

The ROV is equipped with a 300-meter cable and can sustain 2-hours continuous operation underwater, PCG South Western Mindanao commander Commodore Rejard Marfe added.

"Kaya nitong pumasok sa mga compartments ng barko," Marfe said.

A coast guard press aide earlier said the ship was believed to be sitting at a depth of about 76 meters.

Marfe noted that some passengers could have been trapped in the vessel.

"Anything is possible as of this time," Marfe said.

“The Philippine Coast Guard is still in high hopes that we can still locate, na buhay po itong mga hinahanap natin na indibidwal,” Cayabyab added.

SHARKS, WEATHER CHANGES

PCG Technical Diving Group commander Cheska Jamorol said possible challenges that the 19-man diving team could encounter included sharks and abrupt weather changes.

"May mga reported presence ng sharks. Kung sakali, may mga ways naman. Di agad kami puedeng umahon agad, lahat ng galaw calculated talaga," Jamorol said.

Jamorol's team was also involved in the search and retrieval of the missing sabungeros from Taal Lake. 

"Our divers are well rested naman, they are ready," she said.

Marfe disclosed that the investigating team from the Maritime Safety Service Command arrived earlier Wednesday to determine the cause of the ferry sinking.

TRANSPROT WOES

The triple-decker MV Trisha Kerstin 3 sank on nearly the same route where 31 people died in 2023 after a fire aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3 ferry.

Both ships were owned by locally based Aleson Shipping Lines.

Transportation secretary Giovanni Lopez said on Tuesday that the company's passenger fleet would be kept at port pending an investigation.

On Wednesday, passengers flocked to the ticketing offices of other shipping lines that ply the Zamboanga-Basilan- Sulu and Tawi-Tawi route. 

Aleson has over 10 passenger vessels operating in ZamBaSulTa. In Lamitan City, Basilan, only Aleson serves the area. 

Ken Calolot Bisal, a Lamitan port manager, said the city was facing a huge problem as their passengers and cargo now have to go to Isabela City to catch a boat to Zamboanga. 

Isabela however is also experiencing a deluge of waiting commuters since they are left only with a fastcraft and a commercial boat from other shipping lines.

"Dahil dito, marami tayong mga kababayan na sumasakay na lang sa mga maliliit na bangka, which is mas delikado," Bisal said.

Commodore Marfe said that they would verify this information to ensure that small boats ferrying passengers to other islands are equipped with the  necessary life saving gear. 

'NEGLIGENT'

On Monday, a survivor of the sinking told AFP that "no one from the crew alerted us", describing the panic that gripped passengers as the ship began tilting in the water.

Aquino Sajili said passengers had raced to one side of the ship in a desperate attempt to rebalance it before he heard a "loud snap" that preceded the ship's rapid sinking.

Those who survived then spent hours bobbing in life jackets or clinging to other floatation devices while awaiting rescue, the 53-year-old lawyer said.

"I think we can gather enough evidence to prove that the crew members of the ship were really negligent," Sajili said, adding he believed a lawsuit was likely.

Philippine ferry survivor describes scenes of panic, wait for rescue

The Philippines has a long history of disasters involving the inter-island ferries that ply its seas. Many rely on cheap and poorly regulated boats and ships for transport between the country's more than 7,000 islands.

A 2015 ferry capsizing off the western coast of Leyte Island resulted in more than 60 deaths.

In 1987, the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker in a pre-Christmas accident that claimed more than 4,000 lives. It was the world's worst peacetime disaster at sea.

PCG’s Cayabyab allayed fears of an oil spill following the presence of oil sheen in the waters.

“Nothing to worry naman po ang ating publiko diyan. Ito pong diesel ay may kakayahan pong mag-evaporate in its natural way and nakita po natin sa mga sunud-sunod po nating isinasagawang aerial surveillance ay halos numinipis na po itong oil sheen na nakita natin nung unang araw,” she said.  

— With a report from Harlene Delgado, ABS-CBN News