ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — At least 15 people have been confirmed dead and 28 others remain missing after a passenger ferry carrying more than 350 people sank in rough seas off the southern Philippines early Monday, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.
The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 issued a distress signal at about 1:50 a.m. local time, roughly four hours after departing Zamboanga City for Jolo Island in the Sulu archipelago, the coast guard said in a statement.
By Monday afternoon, at least 316 passengers had been rescued, coast guard commander Romel Dua told AFP, as search and rescue operations continued in challenging conditions.
“A coast guard aircraft is also on the way to help with the operation. The Navy and Air Force have also deployed their assets,” Dua said, adding that authorities were prioritising rescue efforts over investigations at this stage.
The 44-metre, triple-decker ferry went down around five kilometres east of Baluk-Baluk Island, part of Basilan province, an area known for unpredictable sea conditions.
According to survivor accounts, the waters were rough at the time of the incident. Philippine Coast Guard spokeswoman Noemie Cayabyab said preliminary information pointed to choppy seas but stressed that the cause of the sinking had not yet been established.
“Based on the account of some survivors, the waters in the area were rough at the time,” Cayabyab said in a televised interview.
Emergency responders in Basilan said local facilities were struggling to cope with the sudden influx of survivors. Ronalyn Perez, a provincial emergency official, said hospitals were overwhelmed.
“The challenge really is the number of patients that are coming in. We are short-staffed at the moment,” Perez told AFP, confirming that at least 18 injured survivors had been admitted to one hospital.
The ferry was en route from Zamboanga City to Jolo Island when it capsized and sank, according to authorities. Survivors were transported to coast guard stations in Zamboanga City and Isabela City for medical attention and registration.
Video footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard showed rescuers pulling passengers from the water and administering first aid, while separate live videos circulating on social media captured survivors shouting for help in the darkness.
Despite the scale of the tragedy, the coast guard said preliminary checks indicated the ferry had not been overloaded at the time of departure.
“We cannot say for now the reason for the sinking, but we have been instructed to conduct a marine casualty investigation to determine the cause,” Dua said. “As of now, we are focused on the rescue.”
Maritime accidents remain a persistent concern in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands where millions rely on inter-island ferries for transport. Safety lapses, ageing vessels, and weak enforcement have frequently been cited as contributing factors in past disasters.
In 2023, more than 30 people were killed after a ferry caught fire in the southern Philippines. In 2015, a ferry capsized off Leyte Island, killing over 60 people.
The country’s deadliest maritime disaster occurred in 1987 when the ferry Doña Paz collided with an oil tanker, killing more than 4,000 people in what remains the world’s worst peacetime sea tragedy.
As rescue operations continue, authorities say hopes remain that more survivors could still be found, even as families await news of their loved ones.
