MV Maharlika 2 ferry was ‘old,’ ‘rusty,’ say survivor, PPA official

SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte, Philippines — Old, rusty and not surprisingly, its engines had a tendency to conk out.

This was how survivors of the MV Maharlika Dos described the ill-fated inter-island ferry, whose last known position was at six nautical miles southeast of Barangay Benit, San Ricardo in Southern Leyte, when it sank due to engine trouble and bad weather.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, disaster management officials from Surigao City and Southern Leyte placed the number of survivors at 110, with three confirmed dead and 14 injured who were being treated at the Caraga Regional Hospital in this city.

The local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) identified two of the three fatalities as Armando Mosqueda of Cagayan de Oro City and Rahima Ismael of Maguindanao. Ana Marie Custodio, said her father, vessel chief engineer Nelso Custodio, remained missing as of Sunday.

“The boat had engine trouble. Then there were big waves,” said a woman in her 40s, one of the survivors brought to the hospital. She did not want to give her name and begged to be left alone, saying she was still shaken by the event.

Another survivor said almost all passengers managed to grab their life vests but some were unable to get out of the vessel when the boat captain ordered it abandoned between 6 and 7 p.m. on Saturday night.

Maritime officials said the vessel sunk one kilometer from the shorelines off the coastal village of Cogon, Pintuyan town, near San Ricardo, Southern Leyte, based on the last call from one of its crew.

MV Maharlika Dos left this city’s Lipata Port around 11:30 a.m. for Liloan town, Southern Leyte, on Saturday, amid strong winds and choppy waters off Surigao-Leyte strait. Danilo Adorador III