MT Vector
| History | |
|---|---|
 Philippines
|
|
| Name: | Oil Nic-II |
| Owner: | Vector Shipping Inc (Francisco Soriano), Manila |
| Port of registry: | Manila |
| Builder: | Navotas Industrial Corp, Manila |
| Completed: | 1980 |
| Renamed: | Vector, before December 1987 |
| Fate: | Caught fire and sank after a collision with the MV Doña Paz on 20 December 1987. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Oil Tanker |
| Tonnage: | 629 grt |
| Length: | 51.7 m (170 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.6 m (38 ft) |
| Depth: | 3.6 m (12 ft) |
| Installed power: | 250 bhp |
| Propulsion: | single screw |
| Notes: | |
The Vector was a Philippine oil tanker that collided with the ferry Doña Paz on December 20, 1987 in Tablas Strait, Philippines, resulting in an estimated toll of over 4,000 lives.
MT Vector was a small motor tanker, built in Manila, Philippines in 1980 as Oil Nic-II, with a tonnage of 629 grt and length of 51.7 m (170 ft). The tanker was designed to transport petroleum products such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel. Prior to December 1987 the tanker was acquired by Vector Shipping Inc, owned by Francisco Soriano of Manila.
On 19 December 1987 at about 8:00 p.m., Vector left Limay, Bataan en route to Masbate with a crew of 13, and loaded with 8,800 barrels of petroleum products shipped by the ship's charterer, Caltex Philippines, now Chevron. The following morning, at about 6:30 a.m., the passenger and cargo ferry Doña Paz left the port of Tacloban headed for Manila with a complement of 59 crew members, including the master and his officers, and passengers totaling 1,493 as indicated in the Coast Guard Clearance, though estimated to be over 4,000. Doña Paz was a passenger and cargo vessel owned and operated by Sulpicio Lines, plying the route of Manila/Tacloban/Catbalogan/Manila/Catbalogan/Tacloban/Manila.
At about 10:30 p.m. on 20 December 1987, the two vessels collided in the open sea in the vicinity of Dumali Point in Tablas Strait. between Marinduque and Oriental Mindoro. As the two vessels collided, Vector's cargo ignited and caused a fire that spilled into the water and rapidly spread to Doña Paz, which sank within hours. Vector also sank shortly afterwards. Two of the 13 crew members aboard the Vector (Franklin Bornilio and Reynaldo Taripe) survived but all 58 crew of the Doña Paz died. The official death toll on the ferry is 1,565, although some reports claim that the ferry was overcrowded and that the true death toll is over 4,000. The ships would put the death toll at 4,375 although admitting that only 1,568 were on the manifest (still more than the licensed maximum of 1,518). The 21 (or 24) survivors from the ferry had to swim, as there was no time to launch lifeboats.
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Wikipedia