Sunken Philippine ferry can easily be refloated: official

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines (AFP) — The owner of a sunken Philippine ferry is unwilling to see its vessel refloated because it would not be able to claim full damages from insurers, a maritime official said on Saturday.

The senior official said that the submerged Princess of the Stars, which contains hundreds of dead bodies inside, could easily be refloated but the shipping line and authorities were stalling.

The ferry, which sank off the central island of Sibuyan with 850 people aboard in a typhoon a week ago, has an intact hull with air pockets that could be used to float it once more and put it the right side up, the official said.

However, declining to be named, he said the owners, Sulpicio Lines, and the coast guard "are not pursuing that tact because they are waiting apparently for the insurers to conduct their own investigation."

"If they re-float the ...