When the Sea Caught Fire: Inside the Doña Paz's 4,385 Deaths

When the Sea Caught Fire: Inside the Doña Paz's 4,385 Deaths

The ocean itself became an inferno on the night of December 20, 1987: more than 4,000 people burned in open water after a passenger ferry and an unseaworthy tanker collided, and only 25 survived. How did a ship certified for 608 end up carrying thousands unlisted, and why did the world not know for eight hours?

In this episode, we recount the sequence of events, the vessels involved, the passenger discrepancies, and the immediate aftermath as survivors and investigators faced a disaster unlike any in maritime history. What did the locked cabinets, silent radio, and absent officers reveal about responsibility that night?

Person: Captain Eusebio Nazareno Date: December 20, 1987 Location: Tablas Strait, between Marinduque and Tablas Event: Collision between MV Doña Paz and MT Vector Survivors: 25

- Official manifest recorded 1,583 passengers and 58 crew aboard Doña Paz. - An anonymous company official estimated at least 2,000 unlisted passengers sold tickets on deck during the Christmas rush. - Doña Paz had a certified capacity of 608 passengers when built in 1963 as Himeyuri Maru. - MT Vector was carrying 1.05 million liters of gasoline and petroleum products at the time of collision. - The Doña Paz wreck rests upright and intact 500 meters down in the Tablas Strait.

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