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"Super Loss"

On The Scene In The Philippines

Feature Date: March, 2004

Event Date: 27 Feb. 2004

Countryman & McDaniel

 The Air & Ocean Logistics- Customs Broker Attorneys

"Overlooking Runway 25 - Right, at Los Angeles International Airport"

On The Scene -- in The Philippines !

 A 2004 Countryman & McDaniel

Cargo Nightmare Prize Contender

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"Super Loss"

On The Scene In The Philippines

119 Dead 

Terrorist Attack?

27 February 2004

A Cargo Nightmare Prize Contender

The Time: 2:40 a.m.

The Date: Friday 27 February 2004

The Place: Manila Bay - Near Corregidor Island

M/V Super Ferry 14 In Better Days

Built - 2001

Overall Length - 155-meter (510-foot)

Beam - 26.2 meters

Draught - 9.2 meters

Registered Deadweight - 11,568gwt

Loading Capacity - 16,555mt

Vessel Capacity: 330

Passenger Capacity: 1,000

Main Power - 39.400 C.V.

Service Speed - 23.5 knots

Aboard At Time of Loss: 899

Current Missing: 112

NOTE: The following characteristics are presumed from sister vessels, not confirmed.

Lips Controllable Pitch propeller - 4,900 mm diameter with a 3C13 hub

Transverse Tunnel Thrusters

Bow: Lips CT200 unit with an output of 1,200 kW while the other

Stern: Lips CT175 unit with a 750 kW output.

New: Lips CT 200 (1,200 kW) and a Lips CT 225 (1,480 kW) thruster & motor installed fore & after of the existing transverse thruster in bow.

Additional 360° Steerable Thrusters: installed for additional movement in all directions during dynamic positioning. Thrusters retractable to allow unrestricted free-sailing speed from one job to another. The retractable azimuthing thrusters were CS225-250/MNR units with 2,100 mm controllable pitch propellers in nozzles.

Navigation & Processing Computer Systems - HiPAP, bathymetric systems, mechanical scanning profilers, underwater cameras & lights - Seabat 8125 multibeam scanning sonar. Thales GeoSolutions was awarded a contract to supply four Seabat 8125 units to be used in combination with the latest PDS2000 system used for data acquisition, processing & charting of the Seabat data.

Many of us think of a "ferry" as some little boat which shuttles people & vehicles over rivers & steams. But for most of the world -- "ferry" means a major ocean vessel such as the 16,555mt M/V Super Ferry 14 -- a vessel of 1,000 passenger capacity which connects maritime societies across hundreds, if not thousands of miles.

On the M/V Super Ferry 14 command bridge (above) watch officers guide this very modern -- 2 year old vessel of the WG&A Line on it's voyage through thousands of islands which are Indonesia.

This floating palace of M/V Super Ferry 14 offers true "1st Class Service" -- including automobile carriage -- as well as hair salons, expert massage, a business center & yoga for pampered passengers. This vessel even features a karaoke room!

We would all expect this modern "Festival Ship" (as she was advertised) to have a bridge crew which always provided a smooth voyage to destination --

-- and all the voyages were QUITE smooth until just after midnight on Feb. 27 2004 --

On Thurs. Feb. 26 2003 (LAX time), The Cargo Letter>>10,192gt luxury Philippine M/V Super Ferry 14, with 877 passengers - Feb. 27 early morning - caught fire in engine room -- passengers leapt into sea in middle of night or huddled in bow -- 1 dead & 139 missing. Billed as a "Festival" ship, vessel entered service in Oct. 2000 & featured beauty parlor, business center, dining salons & karaoke room. M/V Fortune Express, rescued 200 people near Corregidor Island. Another 75 people rescued by Philippine Navy vessel & 28 by fishing boat.

U.S. Marines, in Philippines for annual war games raced to scene in speedboats from naval base in nearby Cavite province. (Thurs. Feb. 26 2004)

Philippine Navy vessels 379 & PCG vessels 02, 04, 3503 & 3504 and Malayan Tugs M/V Iloilo, M/V Sikatuna & M/V Ranger and Harbor Star's Tug M/V Capella dispatched - assisted in firefighting & rescue operations.

At least 110 people were missing as darkness fell on Feb. 27, after explosions & fire tore through M/V Super Ferry 14, killing one person & sending many into the sea to escape the flames. Coastguard said of 879 passengers & crew on board, 766 were rescued. Coastguard listed 112 people as missing, including 2 crew. Operator WG&A Philippines Lines said of 899 on board, some 788 were rescued. It also listed 1 dead & 110 missing. Owners disputed Coastguard assessment that fire started in engine room, saying it began on upper deck.

M/V Fortune Express rescued 463 passengers & 95 crew. M/V Aleson Carrier rescued 23 passengers. F/V Allain with 24 crew & M/V Queen Virgie rescued 18 passengers who were later transferred to Rosario, Cavite. Other vessels that transferred passengers were M/V Princess Ivy with 28 passengers, M/V Princess Aida with 28 passengers & M/V Super Ferry 14 's sister ship M/V SuperFerry 9 with 33 passengers. Herma Shipping's M/T Petrotrade assisted by monitoring & relaying vital information.

Fires raged on parts of stricken M/V Super Ferry 14 for 12 hours & smoke could be seen rising from ship on March 7 evening. Rescuers said they would have to wait for up to 2 days to let vessel cool down before they could begin searching for bodies. The 155-meter (510-foot) long ship listed onto its right side after being towed from mouth of Manila Bay to Bataan island.

Your humble editor had just visited each of these mentioned positions, including Corregidor Island, just prior to the incident. McD

M/V Super Ferry 14 - 92 Missing - Presumed Lost - 119 Dead

The karaoke room & hair salon are closed - as thousands mourn the hundreds who are missing.

The Cargo Letter UPDATE>> 186 still unaccounted for. (Sun. Feb. 29 2004)

The Cargo Letter UPDATE>> Number of bodies recovered from M/V Super Ferry 14 destroyed by fire has risen to 22 with 112 others still missing more than a week after the blaze. Coastguard spokesman Arman Balilo said 6 more bodies had been recovered over March 6 weekend from inside as searchers combed cabins of the half-submerged wreck. Spokesman for Muslim guerrilla group the "Abu Sayyaf" claimed it planted a bomb that caused blaze, but authorities ruled out sabotage as cause, saying they had found no evidence of a bomb. (Wed. March 102004)

The Cargo Letter UPDATE>> ''There was a smell of gunpowder in the smoke filling the air,'' said Capt. Ceferino Manzo, of M/V Super Ferry 14, in an affidavit read on 1st day of an investigation into cause of the fire. Capt Manzo said he knew the smell of gunpowder because he is a member of a gun club. Another ship officer, Erden Ferrer, corroborated Capt Manzo's statement that an explosion occurred along corridor of a section of 'A' deck, immediately below the bridge but far from the ship's galley & gas tanks.

''What we are sure is that there was an explosion,'' he told the 10 members of the Board of Marine Inquiry. ''As for the cause, that we cannot say, your honor.' Newspapers have reported other survivors as saying they heard an explosion.

The Abu Sayyaf, labelled by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization, is one of four homegrown rebel groups seeking to carve out an independent Islamic state in the S. Philippines.

Maritime accidents are common in the Philippines, often caused by overcrowding on rickety crafts. M/V Super Ferry 14 was apparently not overloaded & is a relatively new ship.

In addition to 27 bodies recovered, 92 people are missing. Apart from the ferry's officers and crew, the investigators will also summon passengers, the ship owners and government regulatory officials.

''The board will be conducting marathon hearings to find out the truth behind the ferry fire,'' Admiral Arthur Gosingan of the coast guard said. The inquiry could last for several weeks because the board has no real power to compel witnesses to testify, he said. - Reuters. (Sun. March 14 2004)


The Dedication of This Feature Is Simple: To The Crew of M/V Super Ferry 14 and their families.


SPECIAL NOTE: The historic dangers of carriage by sea continue to be quite real. Shippers must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from their freight forwarder or customs brokerIt's dangerous out there.


All In The Family>> The Cargo Letter >> WG&A Lines M/V SuperFerry 12 left Manila on time at 9am bound for Cebu. At 11:11 am, May 25, while M/V SuperFerry 12 was cruising on normal course near Limbones Island off Corregidor -- in collision with wooden passenger M/V San Nicolas -- hit portside of M/V SuperFerry 12 -- capsized & sank. All 1,400 passengers of M/V SuperFerry 12 safe - no damage. M/V SuperFerry 12 's Master Rene Rafanan immediately commenced rescue operations with vessel crew of ill-fated M/V San Nicolas. Life rafts launched. As of 3:30 pm, a total 130 passengers of M/V San Nicolas rescued. M/V SuperFerry 12 rescued 29 passengers. Other vessels in rescue operations were Sulpicio Lines M/V Filipina Princess, cargo vessel M/V Allison, F/V Mona Linda, & tugboat- M/V Pilsener. At time of incident, raining with 2-mile (3.2 km) visibility in rough seas. M/V San Nicolas came from Coron, Palawan en for Manila -- M/V San Nicolas suffered 28 dead. (SUN. May 25 2003)


INDEX TO OUR "Super Loss" PAGE SPECIAL FEATURES:

Philippine Navy

Supper Ferry 14 - interior photos

Trasmediterranea - sisters

WG&A Philippines Lines - owner of M/V Super Ferry 14


SPECIAL NOTE: The historic dangers of carriage by sea continue to be quite real. Shippers must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from their freight forwarder or customs broker.  It's dangerous out there.

Thanks To Our Contributors For The "Super Loss" Feature

Our Contributors for this feature are:
* Anonymous contributors who wish to be anonymous; and

Mr. Niels Aage Jensen


NOTE: Please Provide Us With Your Additional Information For This Loss.

EDITOR'S NOTE FOR SURVEYORS, ATTORNEYS & MARINE ADJUSTERS: The Internet edition effort of The Cargo Letter now celebrates it's 8th Year of Service -- making us quite senior in this segment of the industry. We once estimated container underway losses at about 1,500 per year. Lloyd's put that figure at about 10,000 earlier this year. Quite obviously, the reporting mechanism for these massive losses is not supported by the lines. News of these events is not posted to the maritime community. Our new project is to call upon you -- those handling the claims -- to let us know of each container loss at sea-- in confidentiality. Many of you survey on behalf of cargo interests with no need for confidentiality. Others work for the lines & need to be protected. As a respected Int'l publication, The Cargo Letter enjoys full press privileges & cannot be forced to disclose our sources of information. No successful attempt has ever been made. If a personal notation for your report is desired -- each contributor will be given a "hot link" to your company Website in each & every report. Please take moment & report your "overside" containers to us. If you do not wish attribution, your entry will be "anonymous." This will will benefit our industry -- for obvious reasons! McD


* NOTE: The Cargo Letter wants you to know that by keeping the identity of our contributors 100% Confidential, you are able to view our continuing series of "Cargo Disasters." Our friends send us materials which benefit the industry. The materials are provided to our news publication with complete and enforceable confidentiality for the sender. In turn, we provide these materials to you.  

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