MV Princess of the Orient

Princess of the Orient as a Sunflower

• Sunflower 11
• Sunflower Satsuma

IMO no. 7373561

The Princess of the Orient was a Philippine ferry and the ferry company Sulpicio Lines belonged.

Career

The ship was launched on September 9, 1974 the Japanese Shin Kurushima shipyard in Imabari from the stack. The ferry was one of five ships named Sanfurawaa ( Sun Flower ), which were launched 1972-1974. The graded as a car ferry Sunflower 11 was the youngest, largest and most luxurious of the five ferries.

Bought she was from Nihon Kosoku - ferry company for shuttle services between Osaka ( Honshu ) and Kagoshima ( Kyushu ). The construction cost of 6 billion yen, however, exceeded the financial capabilities of the ferry company, so they still sold back to the Kurishima shipyard in the same month and was henceforth chartered by the ferry company. In November collapsed the Kurushima shipyard, and the Sunflower 11 was purchased from Nihon Enkai - ferry company that henceforth also ran the route. As the ferry company changed its name to Blue Highway Line, they also changed the names of their ships. From the Sunflower Sunflower 11 Satsuma, was named after the Japanese peninsula.

In 1993 the ship to the Philippine ferry company Sulpicio Lines was sold. The ferry was and remained the Philippines and flagship of the largest ferry.

Downfall

The ship came on 18 September 1998 on the trip from Manila to Cebu in the typhoon Vicky. Due to the effects of wind and high waves capsized the ferry to 12.55 local time clock near the island of Fortune in the Philippine province of Batangas and sank. Of the 388 passengers died in the accident 150 killed. Some passengers drove up to twelve hours in the water before rescuers arrived.

• Ferry
• Ship disaster
• Traffic accident in 1998