MV Princess of the Stars – Sulpicio Lines – Maritime disasters


Sulpicio Lines currently holds the world record for the worst peacetime maritime disaster due to the sinking MV Doña Paz which killed approximately 4,375 people in the Philippines, dwarfing the death toll of the RMS Titanic of 1,517. The company also holds the record for the highest death toll of any shipping line in the world killing more than approximately 5,300.

MV Doña Paz – is the worst ferry disaster and the worst peace-time maritime disaster in history.





It is the worst ferry disaster and the worst peace-time maritime disaster in history.

MV Doña Marilyn in 1988

MV Dona Marilyn was a ferry owned by Sulpicio Lines, Inc., which sunk on October 24, 1988 while caught mid-voyage in a typhoon. It left 254 dead. The ferry was en route from Manila to Cebu City.

This ferry is a sister ship of the ill-fated MV Dona Paz.

MV Princess of the Orient in 1998

On September 18, 1998, Sulpicio’s M/V Princess of the Orient, sailing from Manila to Cebu, sailed into a typhoon. She capsized at 12:55 p.m. near Fortune Island in Batangas. Of 388 passengers on board, around 150 perished. Passengers were floating at sea for more than 12 hours before rescuers were able to reach survivors.

MV Princess of the Stars 2008


As of June 23, four bodies were recovered by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy.According to the Coast Guard, the ferry’s manifest recorded 702 passengers including 50 children as well as 100 crew. The civil defense office said the ship carried 626 passengers and 121 crew members. Three Navy vessels were dispatched but one had to abort its mission due to “gigantic waves, pounding rain, and gusty winds,” said Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo, spokesman of the Philippine Navy.

A rescue ship reached the MV Princess of the Stars, more than 24 hours after it lost radio contact at 12:30 PST (04:30 GMT) on Saturday. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Senior Grade Arman Balilo, however, lamented: “They haven’t seen anyone. They’re scouring the area. They’re studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted.”

Xinhua News Agency reported that 4 survivors witnessed “that the captain of the ship ordered the abandoning of the ship at noon Saturday, but many passengers did not even wear life vests when the ship capsized.” Four survivors told GMA News that “the ship did not malfunction, but only slowed down its speed as it encountered big waves off the coast of Romblon.” One saw many people jump, but “the waves were so big and the rains so strong that few of them could have possibly survived; the crew were so busy saving themselves that they did not care to help the passengers to wear safety vests, and that some of the passengers passed out while children and the elderly failed to wear life vests because they could no longer move when the ship was turning upside down.”

Tansingco confirmed that 4 aboard died and hundreds of passengers were still missing. Dozens of people trooped to the offices of owner Sulpicio Lines in Cebu and Manila North Harbor. The victims’ families accused Sulpicio Lines and the Philippine Coast Guard of allowing the ship to set sail despite the bad weather. They further blamed Sulpicio for not personally informing them about the tragedy, the details of the accident, and the condition of the ship plus its passengers. Sulpicio Lines’s counsel stated that “the ship never received advice from Coast Guard, while Metro Manila was still under public storm signal No. 1 when the ship left the port.” Furthermore, BBC quoted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as saying, “Why did you allow it to sail and why was there no ample warning? I want answers.

Sulpicio admitted that 860 were on board as the ferry capsized: “There were 751 manifested passengers and 111 crew members on board the capsized vessel.” The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) suspended all sea travel operations of the Sulpicio. Sulpicio lines released the names of 32 survivors with the complete passenger manifest and crew list uploaded on their website.


MV Princess of the Stars
June 23, 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer Front page

MV Princess of the Stars
June 24, 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer Front page

MV Princess of the Stars
June 25, 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer Front page

Eduardo Go Sulpicio Lines Owner
Manila June 23, 2008. Sulpicio Lines owner Eduardo Go and Vice-President Sally Buaron announce the company’s planned compensation to victims at a press conference held in Casa Espanol in Manila around 1pm on Monday, June 23, 2008. ABS-CBN News

List of Casualties
List of Survivors

Sulpicio Lines Official Website




  1. dont make those people who already suffered from the death of their loved ones, suffer from getting what’s due for them.

  2. well for all those disasters in shipping the cause are: poor mentainaces likely and downhills poor
    proper safety at all to blamed thats what the big issues okkkk ever since originally^^

  3. Is there no advocate for the families, regardless of citizenship, waiting in agony to find the fate of their loved ones? It seems as if Sulpicio Lines is just stalling and stalling with one thing after the other. This is undeniably a gross imposition on the rights of the deceased and their families to allow that ship to just sit and stagnate in the water when it is full of human remains. Our citizens, any citizens, are worth so much more than that and the family from the U.S., like many others, has been through an agonizing and frustrating ordeal with no end in sight. This is a hideous and disgusting way to treat human beings and in essence, their bodies are being held captive. This situation desperately needs to be brought to the attention of any international law/humanitarian rights advocate and news entity who is willing to listen, and I am working hard to raise awareness as such. If that were a Carnival (i.e.) ship off of Bermuda or the U.S.S. Badger full of bodies in Lake Michigan, do you think there would be so much delay? Never!!! Regardless of the country of registry or parent company. This is an enormous travesty of justice to the victims and their families. Let alone the fact that there are citizens of other countries missing in the mess. I do not understand why nobody is overriding the shipping company on this and taking over operations to make retrieving the remains in an ecologically safe manor THE immediate and top priority and play the blame game later. All the rights here seem to belong to Sulpicio, and they are not doing ANYTHING to remedy the situation at hand. Apparently nobody can touch the ship but the owner. Meanwhile, the divers have been called off and they now want to re-float, which would take 3 months, or tow the ship, which would take about a month, to unload the cargo and the bodies. These decisions are all conveniently being left up to Sulpicio, who is doing NOTHING. Why they have ANY rights at this point is not clear, as the investigations have already found that two of the ballasts were empty. It is also speculated that the cargo was not properly secured and may have contributed to the capsizing of the ship. Seems to me the right thing to do to begin retrieving the bodies would be for someone to step in and take over and bring in a ship builder-maybe the company that constructed this ship-to salvage the vessel by dismantling the exposed hull. Apparently they know where the cargo is located in the ship and as of yet it is not leaking, so they CAN get around it. With all the technology and engineering capabilities out there today, there is no excuse for this to be prolonged. Meanwhile, the ship remains upside down, submerged, physically in tact, and potentially full of hundreds of human remains, and any moron would know they are not going to magically become any more easily identifiable. I think what I find most shocking and appalling is that this situation gets worse and worse and the media attention in the rest of the world, just is not there. The rest of the world doesn’t seem to know or care that there is a boat full of bodies just sitting in the water. The only reason I am up to speed on the horrid details is that some of those lost are the family of someone that I care about very much. So I scan the local news outlets there all day long hoping to find some closure for them, along with the other hundreds of families, hoping to find news of a resolution. However, instead of hope, I see gross negligence. The disgusting, horrendous, deplorable corporate and socially unacceptable conduct of a shipping company that basically sent 800 people to a watery grave and really doesn’t seem to notice. For now, all I can do is try to raise awareness in hopes that someone will step up to the plate and end this atrocity. Let these grieving families identify there loved ones so they can mourn them and find closure. The media is the best outlet to raise awareness. Each day the bodies are left on the boat is a day too late. I would give my vote to Sulpicio as “Worst Corporate Citizen Ever.”

  4. Sulpicio lines is a very big company, more than 20 owners running the business. The person responsible for clearing the vessel is no other than MR JONATHAN GO, VP for Operations. the authorities should file charges against this person.

  5. if only the courts could hold eduardo go and and the owners of sulpiciao lines in contempt and put in jail for at least as long as all victims inside the ship is retrieved then surely we will see quick action. unfortunately they have all the influence that ensure that does not happen.

    if there is justice in this world somebody out there will do permanent harm to these callous animals pretending to be humans.

  6. The seaferers were lack of experienced. The vessel must be ballasted properly before leaving the port….The free surface effect should be avoided…..