At least 18 killed, hundreds rescued in Philippines ferry sinking

At least 18 people have been killed, and dozens remain unaccounted for after a passenger and cargo ferry sank before dawn on Monday (26 January 2026) off the southern Philippine province of Basilan.

The disaster triggered a large-scale rescue operation involving sea and air teams. The MV Trisha Kerstin 3, a roll-on/roll-off inter-island vessel operated by Aleson Shipping Lines, was en route from Zamboanga City to Jolo in Sulu province when it issued a distress call at around 1:50 am, roughly four hours after departure.

The Philippines has indefinitely suspended the full passenger fleet of Aleson Shipping Lines as part of a wider review of the domestic shipping sector ahead of a planned update to the country’s maritime safety regulations, acting transportation secretary Giovanni Lopez said.

In a statement, Philippine Coast Guard officials said the ship was carrying 332 passengers and 27 crew members, within its authorised capacity, when it went down several kilometres northeast of Baluk-Baluk Island. The steel-hulled ferry reportedly listed suddenly and began taking on water, sending passengers into the sea in darkness.

‘All of us got separated’

Rescue teams, including coast guard and navy vessels, police maritime units, military aircraft and local fishing boats, pulled hundreds of people from the water, many of them clinging to debris or life rafts. By Monday afternoon, officials said at least 316 or 317 people had been rescued, and 18 bodies recovered, while between two dozen and more than 40 people were still missing as authorities worked to reconcile passenger counts. Survivors were taken to hospitals in Basilan and Zamboanga, where emergency responders said facilities were strained by the number of patients suffering from hypothermia, exhaustion and trauma.

Among the survivors was Mohamad Khan, who lost his infant daughter during the sinking. “My wife lost hold of our baby, and all of us got separated at sea,” Khan told a volunteer rescuer, Gamar Alih, who posted a video of his remarks on Facebook. Khan and his wife survived, but their six-month-old baby drowned.

Coast Guard commander Romel Dua said there were coast guard safety personnel on board and that the alert from the vessel prompted the immediate deployment of rescue teams.

“There were two coast guard safety officers on board, and they were the first to call and alert us to deploy rescue vessels,” Dua told The Associated Press, adding that both survived.

Coast Guard spokesperson Capt. Noemie Cayabyab said survivor accounts pointed to adverse sea conditions. “Based on the testimony of the survivors, the sea condition was rough due to tall waves. However, as with other incidents, we will conduct a maritime casualty investigation to determine the true cause of this incident,” she said. No oil spill was observed in the area, according to the coast guard.

The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 is a 44-metre, triple-deck passenger-cargo ship built in Japan in 1995 and later reflagged for service in the Philippines. It regularly operates night crossings on southern routes, including the Zamboanga–Jolo corridor. The ferry is also used to transport cargo.

Maritime accidents remain a persistent problem in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands where ferries are a primary mode of transport, particularly in remote regions. Poor vessel maintenance, rough weather and inconsistent enforcement of safety rules have been cited in past disasters, including the 1987 Doña Paz sinking, which killed more than 4,300 people, as well as deadly ferry fires and capsizings in recent years.