 MVSuperFerry 14 asWhite Sanpo 2 in 1987 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | White Sanpo 2 |
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | Imabari,Japan |
| Route | Matsuyama –Imabari –Kobe |
| Builder | Hayashikane Shipbuilding & Engineering Company,Shimonoseki,Japan |
| Yard number | 1240 |
| Launched | February 1981 |
| Maiden voyage | June 1981 |
| In service | 1981–2000 |
| Out of service | July 10, 2000 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold toWG&A Philippines Inc. |
 Philippines | |
| Name | MVSuperFerry 14 |
| Owner | WG&A Philippines Inc. |
| Operator | WG&A SuperFerry |
| Port of registry | Manila,Philippines |
| Route | Manila -Bacolod -Iloilo –Cagayan de Oro (2004)[1] |
| Launched | October 15, 2000[2] |
| Maiden voyage | 2000 |
| In service | 2000–2004 |
| Out of service | February 27, 2004 |
| Fate | Destroyed by fire as a result of a terrorist attack byAbu Sayyaf on February 27, 2004, off the coast ofCorregidor |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | ROPAXFerry |
| Tonnage | 10,181.77 GT |
| Length | 155.6 |
| Beam | 23.6 m |
| Draft | 5.8 m |
| Installed power | dualSEMT Pielstick diesel marine engines; 23,400 hp (combined) |
| Propulsion | dual propellers |
| Speed | 24 knots (max) |
| Capacity | 1,747 passengers |
| SuperFerry 14 bombing | |
|---|---|
.svg)  Manila Bay Manila Bay (Philippines) | |
 | |
| Location | NearEl Fraile orCorregidor Island,Manila Bay,Philippines |
| Date | February 26, 2004; 21 years ago (2004-02-26) c. 11:00 p.m. (PHT,UTC+08:00) |
| Target | MVSuperFerry 14 |
Attack type | Bombing,mass murder,terrorism |
| Weapon | TNT bomb |
| Deaths | 116 |
| Injured | Unknown |
| Perpetrators | Abu Sayyaf
|
| Motive | |
MVSuperFerry 14 was a Philippine registeredroll-on/roll-off (ro-ro)ferry that was attacked on February 27, 2004 byterrorist groupAbu Sayyaf that resulted in the destruction and sinking of the ferry and the deaths of 116 people in thePhilippines' deadliest terrorist attack.[3][4][5] Six children less than five years old, and nine children between six and 16 years of age were among the dead or missing, including six students on a championship team sent by schools in northernMindanao to compete in a journalism contest.[6]
MVSuperFerry 14 was built by Hayashikane Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. inShimonoseki,Japan in February 1981 as theWhite Sanpo 2 (Japanese:ほわいとさんぽう2) for the Japanese company Sanpo Kaiun K.K. (Japanese:三宝海運) and was transferred to Ehime Hanshin Ferry (Japanese:愛媛阪神フェリー) in 1997. She had three passenger decks and a single car deck which was accessible by ramps at the bow and the stern, a common feature of aRoPax Ferry. She had extensive passenger facilities and had a luxurious interior. She featured a twinQE2 inspired funnel. She was painted with a giant phoenix on the side of the hull.[citation needed]
She was 155.6 meters long, 23.6 meters wide, and had a depth of 13.0 meters. She had a gross tonnage of 10,181.77. She was eventually sold to WG&A in the year 2000 where she was renamed the MVSuperFerry 14. She was inaugurated inBacolod City on October 2000, coinciding with theMassKara Festival.[7] WG&A promoted the ship as a “festival ship” during its entry into service. At the time of her service in the Philippines, her interior was more opulent than what is normally found in a domestic ferry. WG&A marketed her differently to distinguish herself from other ferries in her class.[citation needed]
On the night of February 26, the 10,192-ton ferry sailed out ofManila forCagayan de Oro viaBacolod andIloilo City with 899 recorded passengers and crew aboard.[8] Atelevision set containing a 3.6-kilogram (7.9 lb)TNT bomb had been placed on board in the lower, more-crowded decks.[6][9]
An hour after at 11 p.m. sailing just off eitherEl Fraile[6] orCorregidor Island[9] an explosion tore through the vessel, starting a fire that engulfed the ship.[9] Captain Ceferino Manzo issued the order to abandon ship at about 1:30 a.m., February 27.[10] As the fire spread across the vessel most of the survivors jumped into the sea or boarded rescue boats. By February 29, officials had accounted for 565 of the 744 recorded passengers and all but two of the 155 crew members.[11]
In the days following the blast, the recovery of the dead and missing, calculated at around 180 on February 29, was slow. Officials stated the missing may have been trapped inside the blazing ferry, drowned in Manila Bay and may have been picked up by fishing boats.[11] The recovery of bodies took several months, with only four bodies recovered byCoast Guard divers from the half-submerged ferry in the first week, despite it having been towed to shallower waters nearMariveles town, west ofManila.[8][11][12] At least another 12 bodies, some displaying blast injuries, were recovered by divers in the days up until the 7th.[8] Eventually, 63 bodies were recovered while another 53 remained missing, presumed dead.[9]
Despite claims from various terrorist groups, the blast was initially thought to have been an accident, caused by a gas explosion. Sabotage was initially ruled out.[8]
However, at the marine board of inquiry hearing in late March 2004, a safety supervisor with the ship's owner,WG&A, testified that about 150 survivors told him an explosion took place in the tourist section around the general area of bunk 51. The Captain of the ferry, Ceferino Manzo, testified in the same hearing that the entire tourist section was engulfed in "thick black smoke that smelled like gunpowder."[13]
After divers righted the ferry, five months after it sank, they found evidence of a bomb blast. A man named Redondo Cain Dellosa, aRajah Sulaiman Movement member, confessed to planting a bomb, triggered by a timing device, on board for theAbu Sayyaf group.[9] He held a ticket on the ferry for bunk 51B, where the bomb was placed, and disembarked before the ship's departure.[6]
PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo announced on October 11, 2004, that investigators had concluded that the explosion had been caused by a bomb. She said six suspects had been arrested in connection with the bombing and that the masterminds,Khadaffy Janjalani andAbu Sulaiman, were still at large. It was believed that Abu Sayyaf bombedSuperferry 14 because the company that owned it,WG&A, did not comply with a letter demanding$1 million inprotection money. The vessel was later raised and sold for scrap.[14]
Ruben Omar Pestano Lavilla, Jr., a listed terrorist of U.S. State Department, and founder ofPhilippine terror groupRajah Sulaiman Movement, was arrested inBahrain on July 24, 2008. Anti-Terrorism Council ChairmanEduardo Ermita announced that Lavilla, the alleged mastermind of the Superferry 14 bombing, was deported from Bahrain to the Philippines on August 30. Included in the sanctioned list of theUnited Nations Security Council,[15][16] the RSM leader was also implicated in the February 14, 2005 bombings atGlorietta, and has pending murder case before theMakati Regional Trial Court for the bombings.[17]
