Smoke still poured from a scorched passenger ferry off Palawan on Thursday as Philippine rescuers raced against time, searching choppy waters for survivors after a blaze killed five people and left dozens more missing.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it had launched a wide search-and-rescue effort, deploying multiple vessels and other assets while teams used drift-modelling tools to map where passengers may have been swept by currents.
Authorities said the numbers remain fluid, but an early accounting based on the vessel’s manifest, 43 survivors and the fatalities confirmed so far suggested more than 80 people were still unaccounted for.
Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said crews had not yet been able to enter the ferry itself. Thick smoke continued to billow from the vessel, and responders were also weighing the dangers posed by extreme heat and the potential for explosions.
Drone footage released by the Coast Guard showed the ferry blackened and badly burned, floating in clear blue-green water and still emitting smoke hours after the fire erupted on Wednesday night.
Drone footage shows razed Philippine ferry
Cayabyab said the manifest listed 117 passengers and 17 crew members. The ferry had left Baseco in Manila for Coron, a well-known tourist stop in Palawan famed for diving spots, beaches and island-hopping tours.
Among those pulled from the water were two Chilean nationals, according to Aileen Ausente, the PCG’s spokesperson in Palawan. She said air assets were on standby to support the operation, weather permitting.
Rescuers also faced shifting conditions at sea. Cayabyab said the burned ferry drifted farther from its initial position overnight, pushed by currents and winds, complicating the search.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
There were no immediate reports of foreigners on board.
Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the June Aster had departed from Manila.
Ferries are a lifeline in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, where millions depend on boats to travel between provinces.
But the country’s maritime safety record has been uneven, with past disasters often tied to overcrowding, rough seas and weak enforcement of safety rules.
In January, a triple-decker ferry carrying more than 340 people sank off the southern Philippines, leaving at least 52 dead.
The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 went down along nearly the same route where 31 people died in 2023 after a fire broke out aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3 ferry.
