Philippine ferry fire leaves five dead and up to 87 missing near Palawan

Fire breaks out near Coron

The passenger vessel MV June Aster caught fire on Wednesday evening at approximately 6:45 pm as it neared its destination of Coron in the western Philippine province of Palawan. The ferry had departed from the Baseco district in Manila and was travelling roughly 2.2 kilometres (1.3 miles) off the coast when flames erupted across the deck. According to manifest figures released by the Philippine Coast Guard, 134 individuals were on board, comprising 117 passengers and 17 crew members. Coron, situated on Busuanga Island, is a destination known for limestone islands, beaches, and diving locations. Maritime authorities stated that they had no information indicating that foreign nationals were aboard the ferry.

Casualties and ongoing rescue efforts

Responders confirmed on Thursday morning that at least five individuals died in the disaster, with emergency crews bringing their bodies ashore in body bags. Search and rescue units pulled between 42 and 43 survivors from the sea on Wednesday night, a group that included 38 passengers and four crew members. Between 86 and 87 individuals remained unaccounted for on Thursday as maritime searches continued. Coast Guard Captain Noemi Cayabyab explained on local radio and television that the casualty counts were provisional because search teams were still active across the area. Adverse maritime conditions complicated the response, as heavy waves and powerful currents moved the vessel from four nautical miles off the village of Turda to 7.68 nautical miles offshore.

Based on the data we have right now on rescued (42) and the casualties, we still have 87 people who are unaccounted for.

Joint emergency response at sea

Search and rescue efforts involved a coordinated deployment of Coast Guard vessels, high-speed response boats, a military ship, additional government vessels, local firefighters, private volunteers, and municipal fishermen. Video footage released by the Coast Guard showed personnel tossing life jackets to survivors swimming in the dark before transferring them onto smaller support boats bound for shallower waters. Coast Guard operators issued radio broadcasts instructing commercial vessels in the vicinity to watch for survivors and established contact with local coastal villages in the event that passengers drifted ashore. Although emergency crews brought the flames under control, the ferry remained afloat while listing to one side.

We are continuing search and rescue operations.

Inquiry into safety and cargo hold

Maritime regulators and the Philippine Coast Guard launched an investigation into the origin of the fire and began discussions with the vessel's management. One surviving passenger stated that the blaze appeared to start inside the cargo hold. The investigation will review whether safety violations occurred, including whether the ferry carried excess passengers and whether life jackets were properly accessible to all passengers. The incident follows previous ferry accidents in Philippine waters. In January, the triple-decker ferry MV Trisha Kerstin 3 capsized and sank off the southern Philippines carrying over 340 people, resulting in at least 52 deaths. That disaster took place along nearly the same route where 31 people died in 2023 after fire swept through the ferry Lady Mary Joy 3.