The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced on Tuesday, Feb. 24, that its technical diving group has concluded a full underwater search of the sunken MV Trisha Kerstin 3 after 27 days of high-risk deep-water operations off Baluk-Baluk Island in Basilan.
The diving mission, which began on Jan. 28 and ended on Feb. 23, recovered 22 bodies from different sections of the vessel.
In total, 65 people perished in the incident, 14 remain missing, while 293 survived.
The ferry, operated by Aleson Shipping Lines, sank on January 26 about 2.75 nautical miles northeast of Baluk-Baluk Island after departing from Zamboanga City Port.
Despite the completion of the underwater search, the PCG’s joint response teams will continue to conduct surface search, coastal or fishing community coordination, and other similar operations to locate the remaining missing individuals, said PCG spokesperson Capt. Noemie Cayabyab.
Cayabyab noted that the technical wreck divers would also perform “re-swiping procedures” inside the MV Trisha Kerstin 3 until Feb. 26.
Re-swiping procedures involve divers returning to previously searched sections of the wreck to conduct a second and more deliberate inspection.
Meanwhile, some of the recovered bodies have yet to be identified, according to Cayabyab.
She said the remains were turned over to the Philippine National Police-Scene of the Crime Operations (PNP-SOCO) for proper disposition.
“Some of the bodies have yet to be identified. What we do is turn them over to the PNP-SOCO. The relatives have provided DNA samples to PNP-SOCO,” Cayabyab shared.
“In some instances, the recovered bodies have IDs so we automatically inform the families. But if they can no longer be readily identified, that’s when PNP-SOCO conducts identification through the DNA samples provided by the relatives,” she said. (Martin Sadongdong)
