Is Pinoy Sea Travel Safe?

Amihan is a mild weather period starting late December to August. The wind blows from the east (Siberia, China, Japan) down to South China Sea, Indonesia and Philippine Archipelagos. It is a safe time to travel. Because maybe of climate change, the late December 2025 to January 2026 Amihan was the coldest in Japan, Korea, China. The waves and winds were biggest, strongest, roughest ever recorded in the last 30 years. On January 17, 2026 a lancha left Davao City’s harbor for Gov. Generoso. It sank before reaching its destination because of big waves and strong winds. Because of the powerful high and low tides of the Pacific Ocean currents which pushes into Davao Gulf many times a day, passenger bodies were scattered all over inside Davao Gulf from Sigaboy Davao Oriental, Malita Davao Occidental up to the Sarangani shoreline. A 55,000-ton Singapore owned freight ship with 21 Filipino crewmen loaded rare earth mineral rich black sand in Pangasinan bound for China. The trip from Luzon to Borneo was uneventful. On reaching the tip of Borneo it counted big powerful strong Amihan waves and winds and sank on January 10, 2026. On January 27, 2026 M.V. (Motor Vessel) Trisha Kershin left Basilan Harbor with 318 passengers and sank near Baluk Baluk Island. The 3 ship tragedies within 12 days of January 2026 never happened before. Habagat (August to November) is the time when sea worldwide travel is a worry because Habagat is the typhoon season but not Amihan.

On December 9, 1941 an inter-island ship left Manila for the Visayas. The passengers were mostly Visayan students, families who wanted to go home because of the December 8 bombing. Along Corregidor Island it hit a mine placed by the US Navy to stop Jap warship from entering Manila Bay. This was the first Filipino ship sinking with 200 plus passengers dead. Hundreds more were rescued by Caviteno fishermen. After the World War ended in 1945, Filipino shipowners bought from the U.S. military ships for their businesses, some could not afford to buy brand new ships because they were expensive. They bought secondhand ships from America, Japan, cut the ships in the middle and expand the length thus increasing the cargo and passengers they carry. Instead of buying new engines, they reconditioned them. Instead of dry docking every 5 years to check for bottom and sides of the ship for leaks, weakened bolts, nuts, general repairs they make it every 10 years to save on repair costs. Sometimes the ship gets into trouble on the 6th to 9th year before the general overhaul. The results are ship sinking and death of passengers. On December 20, 1957 M.V. Doña Paz collided with gasoline tanker Vector inside Tablas strait in Mindoro. 4,341 Doña Paz passengers died. The Mindoro and Tablas islands were littered with about 270 bodies some decomposing, some partly eaten by sharks. This is still the worst world peacetime sea accident.

1. On April 22, 1980, MV Don Juan collided MV Tacloban with a loss of 133
2. September 1998 MV Princess of the Orient sank with 70 dead
3. SuperFerry 6 burned on Oct. 12, 2000 but 1,000 passengers and crew were saved.
4. SuperFerry 14 was bombed by terrorist in Manila Bay on February 27, 2004 and sank, killing 116 passengers.
5. On June 22, 2008, 700 drowned when MV Princess of the stars sank during a typhoon.
6. On September 6, 2009 SuperFerry 9 began sinking near Banga Point, Zamboanga Del Norte, because of hole on the starboard side under waterline of the ship. Our coast guard and the U.S. navy sent rescue teams. Only 9 died but the ship sank.

In 1957, after 4,431 died in the Doña Paz tragedy, the government investigated and said the causes of the most accident are: A. Corrupt ship officials and coast guard inspectors who allow up to 3 times the number of passengers for money. B. Most ships are aging with poorly maintained engines. C. Incompetent/ fake officers (who paid to pass the exams). D. Little or no safety and emergency training for both crew and passengers. E. Lack of damage culture and outright cowardice. Lack of lifeboats and life vests.

150 years ago, a UK ship sank off the coast of Africa with about 500 passengers (civilians and military). Because of military discipline (despite lifeboats shortage) children and women were allowed to board the lifeboats first. More than 300 were eaten by white sharks. About 100 plus, mostly children and women on lifeboats lived. Today this is called the Birkenhead rule, in all emergencies, save the children and women first. From 1957 to 2026, obviously the government did not do enough to protect the innocent passengers who placed their trust in the ship’s crew and shipowners. The only crime was they wanted to go home by boat.