Timeline

The sinking of a ferry following a collision with a cargo ship is the latest in a long list of deadly accidents to have hit the Philippines sea transport industry.

Inter-island ferries are a major form of transport for millions of Filipinos across the archipelago, mainly because they are cheaper than air travel.

However, bad weather, particularly during the typhoon season, as well as poor maintenance, overloading of vessels and lax enforcement of safety regulations, have led to many disasters.

Here is a list of the most deadly accidents in the Philippines over the past three decades:

June 2008: The Princess of the Stars ferry sails into a typhoon and tips over near the coast of Sibuyan island. Of the 850 on board, only 57 survive.

February 2004: Islamist militants firebomb Superferry 14 near Manila Bay, leaving 116 dead.

April 2000: The cargo vessel Anahanda, overloaded with passengers, sinks off the southern island of Jolo. About 100 of the estimated 150 people on board die.

September 1998: The Princess of the Orient ferry sinks off Batangas City south of Manila. About 150 die.

December 1994: A Singaporean freighter hits the ferry Cebu City in Manila Bay, leaving about 140 dead.

October 1988: The Dona Marilyn ferry sinks off the central island of Leyte, leaving more than 250 dead.

December 1987: The Dona Paz ferry collides with an oil tanker off Mindoro island near Manila, leaving more than 4,300 dead in the world's worst peacetime shipping disaster.

AFP

(China Daily 08/19/2013 page11)