Passenger Ferry Capsizes in the Philippines, Nearly 40 Dead
MBCA Kim Nirvana, a passenger boat carrying 189 people has capsized in the central Philippines, minutes after leaving port, the Philippine Red Cross and coast guard spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo said. There were 173 passengers and 16 crew members on board, according to Philippine Red Cross Chairman Richard Gordon. At least 39 have died, he said, and 134 survived. Seventeen people remain unaccounted for, he said. Regional coast guard commander Capt. Pedro Tinampay told DZBB radio in Manila that rescuers were using a barge with a crane to move the overturned boat to its side to make it easier for divers to find more bodies. Another crane will be used to raise it upright, he said.
Typhoon Rips Philippines, Mass Evacuation Underway
A powerful typhoon roared into the eastern Philippines on Saturday, bringing lashing rain and strong winds that felled trees, ripped off tin roofs and toppled power lines in areas still bearing the scars of a super typhoon 13 months ago. About 1 million people had already fled to shelters by the time Typhoon Hagupit made landfall, in what a U.N. agency said was one of the world's biggest peacetime evacuations. As the storm barrelled in from the Pacific, power was cut across most of the central island of Samar and nearby Leyte province, including Tacloban City, considered ground zero of the devastating super typhoon Haiyan last year. "The wind is blowing so strongly, it's like it is whirling," Mabel Evardone, an official of the coastal town of Sulat in Eastern Samar, said on local radio.
Maritime Industry Responds to Typhoon in the Philippines
Shipowner groups, unions and welfare organizations are pulling together in response to the devastating effects of Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. One of the main concerns is for Filipino seafarers, who represent more than 20% of the world's seafarers, to be able to contact their families and loved ones back home. Already, the Mission to Seafarers and Sailors Society are providing free phone cards, sims and wifi to Filipino seafarers who visit their centers all over the world. The Seafarers' Emergency Fund, administered by ISWAN, is providing funds for seafarer centers around the world to facilitate free phone calls and wifi for Filipino seafarers to call back home.
