By Carmel Crimmins
MANILA (Reuters) - The search for hundreds of bodies fearedtrapped on a capsized passenger in the central Philippines hasbeen postponed until NEXT (NXT.LO)week while officials try to remove 10tonnes of toxic pesticide from the vessel.
"We want to target to get the cargo out by Wednesday at thelatest. If we can get the job done Monday or Tuesday, so muchthe better," Elena Bautista, the head of a government taskforcehandling the aftermath of the ferry disaster, said on Saturday.
"Once the endosulfan is removed, that's the only time thesearch operations for survivors and bodies can resume."
MV Princess of the Stars ran aground last Saturday during atyphoon and then overturned in about 15 minutes off Sibuyanisland in the central Philippines. The vessel had 865passengers and crew.
Painstaking efforts by Philippine and U.S. divers toretrieve bodies from the seven-storey ship were abruptly haltedon Friday after authorities learned 400 boxes of endosulfan, ahighly toxic pesticide, were on board.
Officials said on Saturday that water samples taken fromthe sea off Sibuyan island showed there had been nocontamination but a fishing ban around the area was maintained.
Local communities were relying even more on the sea tosurvive after Typhoon Fengshen tore up coconut trees anddestroyed corn and cassava crops when it hurled through thecentre of the country last weekend.
"This is a big tragedy for our seas and we depend on ourseas for our livelihood," said Nanette Tansingco, a localmayor. "What will happen to us here?"
The overall death toll from the typhoon could top 1,300,including 540 people killed in a torrent of flooding that toreup trees and bridges, destroyed homes and forced over twomillion people to evacuate.
Damage to agriculture and infrastructure was pegged atnearly 7 billion pesos (78 million pounds).
GRIM REMINDER
The discovery of a toxic chemical on board a passengerferry was a grim reminder of how standards are flouted in thePhilippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands with awoeful record in maritime safety.
It also raises the heat on the ship's owner Sulpicio Lines,already under fire for allowing the vessel to sail when atyphoon had hit.
A company official said on Saturday it was unaware thecargo, which was bound for a Del Monte Philippines' pineappleplantation, was toxic.
"If we knew, we would have made a special arrangement forthat kind of shipment," said Jay Tan, a member of SulpicioLines' crisis response team.
But Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI) said Sulpicio Lineswas fully aware of the nature of the cargo. Del Monte said theboxes of endosulfan were loaded without its knowledge orconsent onto a passenger ferry.
"Upon learning that our cargo was loaded in the ill-fatedM/V Princess of the Stars, we immediately informed theFertiliser and Pesticides Authority (FPA)," the company said ina statement.
The FPA told the government taskforce about the cargo onThursday.
Princess of the Stars' demise is likely to be thePhilippines' worst sea accident since the Dona Paz ferrycollided with an oil tanker in 1987, killing more than 4,000people.
Sulpicio Lines also owned the Dona Paz. The company hasalso been involved in two other major shipping accidents.
So far, only 56 survivors have been found; either pluckedfrom the water by fishermen or washed up on surroundingislands. Only around a dozen bodies have been removed from theship.
(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Additional reporting byManny Mogato; Editing by David Fox)
