Maritime Lawsuit Attorneys

Shipping Disasters: The MV Doña Paz

The Doña Paz was a Philippine passenger ferry that sank following a collision with the oil tanker, Vector, on December 20th, 1987.

On the evening of December 20th, Doña Paz was taking a number of passengers from Catbalogan City on Samar Island to Manila when it collided with the small oil tanker, Vector. The collision occurred in the Tablas Strait between the islands of Mindoro and Tablas.

At the time of the accident, the Vector had 8,800 barrels of petroleum-based products on board. The Doña Paz had 1,565 people officially on board. Unfortunately, this does not take into account a number of people that were on the ship but not on the ship’s manifest. Many authorities would argue that the ship was grossly overcrowded and may have had as many as 4,000 people on board at the time of the accident.

Once the ships collided, the Vector’s cargo ignited and resulted in a fire that quickly spread onto the Doña Paz. Once the Doña Paz caught fire, it sank within minutes. This resulted in an extremely high death toll. The Vector had 13 crew members on board. Two of them managed to escape with their lives. All 58 members of the crew on the Doña Paz died. The official death toll of the ferry is 1,565 people. Some sources say that the death toll is closer to 4,340 people. The ships eventually put the death toll at 4,375, although they admitted that only 1,568 people were on the ship’s manifest. It is important to note that the licensed maximum number of people that were supposed to be on board was 1,518.

Of the numerous people on board the ship between 20 and 30 survived. Those that survived had to swim as there was no time for lifeboats. An investigation into the accident showed later that the crew was under-qualified and that the boat’s license had expired.

Contact a Maritime Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured at sea on either a commercial or private vessel, contact the maritime lawsuit attorneys of Williams Kherkher at 1-800-220-9341 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.