MV SuperFerry 14

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MV SuperFerry 14
Whitesampo2.jpg
MV SuperFerry 14 as White Sanpo 2 in 1987
History
Flag of Japan.svgJapan
NameWhite Sanpo 2
Owner
  • 1981–1997: Sanpo Kaiun K.K.
  • 1997–2000: Ehime Hanshin Ferry
Operator
  • 1981–1997: Sanpo Kaiun K.K.
  • 1997–2000: Ehime Hanshin Ferry
Port of registry Imabari, Japan
Route MatsuyamaImabariKobe
BuilderHayashikane Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Shimonoseki, Japan
Yard number1240
LaunchedFebruary 1981
Maiden voyageJune 1981
In service1981–2000
Out of serviceJune 2000
Identification IMO number:  8004210
FateSold to WG&A SuperFerry
Flag of the Philippines.svgPhilippines
NameMV SuperFerry 14
Owner WG&A Philippines
Operator WG&A SuperFerry
Port of registry Manila, Philippines
Route Manila - Bacolod - IloiloCagayan de Oro (2004)
Maiden voyage2000
In service2000–2004
Out of serviceFebruary 27, 2004
FateDestroyed by fire as a result of a terrorist attack by Abu Sayyaf on February 27, 2004, off the coast of Corregidor
General characteristics
Class and type ROPAX Ferry
Tonnage10,181.77  GT
Length155.6
Beam23.6 m
Draft5.8 m
Installed powerdual SEMT Pielstick diesel marine engines; 23,400 hp (combined)
Propulsiondual propellers
Speed24 knots (max)
Capacity1,747 passengers
SuperFerry 14 bombing
Philippines location map (square).svg
Green pog.svg
Manila Bay
Manila Bay (Philippines)
Location Manila Bay, Philippines
DateFebruary 27, 2004 (UTC+8)
TargetMV SuperFerry 14
Attack type
bombing
Deaths116
Perpetrators Abu Sayyaf

MV SuperFerry 14 was a Philippine registered roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferry that was attacked on February 27, 2004 by terrorist group Abu Sayyaf that resulted in the destruction of the ferry and the deaths of 116 people in the Philippines' deadliest terrorist attack. [1] [2] [3] 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 northern Mindanao to compete in a journalism contest. [4]

Contents

Background

MV SuperFerry 14 was built by Hayashikane Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. in Shimonoseki, Japan in February 1981 as the White 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 a RoPax Ferry. She had extensive passenger facilities and had a luxurious interior. She featured a twin QE2 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 MV SuperFerry 14. 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 ]

Bombing

On the night of February 26, the 10,192-ton ferry sailed out of Manila for Cagayan de Oro via Bacolod and Iloilo City with 899 recorded passengers and crew aboard. [5] A television set containing a 3.6-kilogram (7.9 lb) TNT bomb had been placed on board in the lower, more-crowded decks. [4] [6]

An hour after at 11 p.m. sailing just off either El Fraile [4] or Corregidor Island [6] an explosion tore through the vessel, starting a fire that engulfed the ship. [6] Captain Ceferino Manzo issued the order to abandon ship at about 1:30 a.m., February 27. [7] 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. [8]

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, have drowned in Manila Bay and that others may have been picked up by fishing boats. [8] The recovery of bodies took several months, with only four bodies recovered by Coast Guard divers from the half-submerged ferry in the first week, despite it having been towed to shallower waters near Mariveles town, west of Manila. [5] [8] [9] At least another 12 bodies, some displaying blast injuries, were recovered by divers in the days up until the 7th. [5] Eventually, 63 bodies were recovered while another 53 remained missing, presumed dead. [6]

Investigation

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. [5]

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." [10]

After divers righted the ferry, five months after it sank, they found evidence of a bomb blast. A man named Redondo Cain Dellosa, a Rajah Sulaiman Movement member, confessed to planting a bomb, triggered by a timing device, on board for the Abu Sayyaf group. [6] He held a ticket on the ferry for bunk 51B, where the bomb was placed, and disembarked before the ship's departure. [4]

President Gloria 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 and Abu Sulaiman, were still at large. It was believed that Abu Sayyaf bombed Superferry 14 because the company that owned it, WG&A, did not comply with a letter demanding $1 million in protection money. The vessel was later raised and sold for scrap. [11]

Arrest and deportation

Ruben Omar Pestano Lavilla, Jr., a listed terrorist of U.S. State Department, and founder of Philippine terror group Rajah Sulaiman Movement, was arrested in Bahrain on July 24, 2008. Anti-Terrorism Council Chairman Eduardo 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 the United Nations Security Council, [12] [13] the RSM leader was also implicated in the February 14, 2005 bombings at Glorietta, and has pending murder case before the Makati Regional Trial Court for the bombings. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abu Sayyaf</span> Jihadist militant group in the southwestern Philippines

Abu Sayyaf, officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, was a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is based in and around Jolo and Basilan islands in the southwestern part of the Philippines, where for more than five decades, Moro groups had been engaged in an insurgency seeking to make Moro Province independent. The group is considered violent and is responsible for the Philippines' worst terrorist attack, the bombing of MV Superferry 14 in 2004, which killed 116 people. The name of the group was derived from Arabic abu, and sayyaf. As of April 2023, the group was estimated to have about 20 members, down from 1,250 in 2000. They use mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jemaah Islamiyah</span> Southeast Asian salafist organization (1993–2024)

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The 2002 Zamboanga bombings were a series of attacks perpetrated on the October 2, 17 and 21, 2002, around the southern Philippine port of Zamboanga City, Mindanao island. Eleven people died and over 180 others were wounded in the four bomb attacks allegedly perpetrated by Islamic extremists with connections to the Abu Sayyaf insurgent group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khadaffy Janjalani</span> Abu Sayyaf leader

Khadaffy Abubakar Janjalani was a Filipino Islamist militant who was the leader of the Moro militant group known as Abu Sayyaf and the leader of one of its factions. He was a staunch Wahhabi follower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines</span> Military operation

Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines (OEF-P) or Operation Freedom Eagle was part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the global War on Terror. The Operation targeted the various Jihadist terror groups operating in the country. By 2009, about 600 U.S. military personnel were advising and assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the Southern Philippines. In addition, by 2014, the CIA had sent its elite paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division to hunt down and kill or capture key terrorist leaders. This group had the most success in combating and capturing Al-Qaeda leaders and the leaders of associated groups like Abu Sayyaf.

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SuperFerry was a brand and part of Aboitiz Transport System Corporation (ATSC) and later, Negros Navigation Co. (NENACO), and was one of the largest ferry operator in the Philippines before it was purchased by Negros Navigation, which simultaneously was purchased by the Chinese government through its private equity fund the China-Asean Investment Cooperation Fund in December 2010. Later in 2012 SuperFerry and its sister companies SuperCat and Cebu Ferries merged with Negros Navigation and rebranded as 2GO Travel, part of 2GO Group which rebranded from ATSC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wahab Akbar</span> Filipino politician

Ustadz Wahab M. Akbar was a Filipino politician who served three terms as governor of Basilan, during which time he was known for his "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" policy for dealing with kidnappers and terrorists in the province. He was later elected as congressman for the lone district of Basilan in the House of Representatives, but was one of 4 people killed in a bomb attack at the Batasang Pambansa. Police publicly suspected the attack was directed at him by political opponents.

2004 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 2004.

The following is a list of attacks which have been carried out by Abu Sayyaf, a militant group based in and around Jolo and Basilan islands in the southwestern part of the Philippines, where for more than four decades, Moro groups have been engaged in an insurgency for an independent province in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maute group</span> 2012–2019 Philippine Islamist militant group

Dawlah Islamiya, also called Islamic State of Lanao and formerly named as the Maute Group, is a radical Islamist group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and foreign fighters. Based in Lanao del Sur, it was founded by brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute. The organization, which also conducted a protection racket operation in the municipality of Butig, clashes on several occasions with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the most significant of which began in May 2017 and culminated in the siege of Marawi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Davao City bombing</span> Terrorist attack in the Philippines

A bombing at the Roxas Night Market occurred in Davao City, Philippines, on September 2, 2016, causing at least 14 deaths and 70 injuries. On September 13, 2016, one of those injured, a pregnant woman, died, bringing the death toll up to 15.

The Valentine's Day bombings happened on 14 February 2005 in different cities in the Philippines. Three bombs exploded on that day killing at least nine people and injuring more than a hundred. Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility and three members of the group were convicted of murder in one bombing.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings</span> 2019 bombing of Jolo Cathedral in Sulu, Philippines

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The 2020 Jolo bombings occurred on August 24, 2020, when insurgents alleged to be jihadists from the Abu Sayyaf group detonated two bombs in Jolo, Sulu, Philippines, killing 14 people and wounding 75 others. The first occurred as Philippine Army personnel were assisting in carrying out COVID-19 humanitarian efforts. The second, a suicide bombing, was carried out near the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral.

References

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  3. Harwood, Matthew (6 June 2008). "Piracy and Terrorism Up on the High Seas, Says Study". Security Management . ASIS International. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Superferry Bombing". Human Rights Watch . February 27, 2004. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 AFP (March 7, 2004). "Divers recover body parts from ferry disaster". Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Elegant, Simon (23 August 2004). "The Return of Abu Sayyaf". Time . Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. Ramos, Marlon; Ponte, Romulo O.; Salaverria, Leila B. (February 28, 2004). "112 missing in ferry fire". The Philippine Daily Inquirer . p. 2. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2016 via News.google.com.
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  9. Aravilla, Jose (March 4, 2004). Vanzi, Sol Jose (ed.). "3 DECOMPOSING BODIES FOUND IN SUPERFERRY 14". newsflash. Philippine Headline News Online. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
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