The Philippine ferry disaster
菲律宾渡船灾难
Those in peril
冒着危险的人和船
Jun 26th 2008 | MANILA
From The Economist print edition
Not for the first time, navigating the archipelago by ferry proves deadly
使用渡船在群岛之间航行不止一次被证明是极其危险的。
THE shipping industry in the Philippines put another big blot on its abysmal safety record when the ferry Princess of the Stars, carrying 862 passengers and crew, sank during a typhoon in the central Philippines on June 21st. By the middle of the week rescuers had found 48 survivors. But 70 bodies had been recovered and 744 people were still missing. The authorities had little hope of finding any more alive. It will probably turn out to have been the most deadly maritime accident in the Philippines for 20 years.
6月21日，正值台风之时，载有862名乘客和船员的”群星公主”号渡轮在菲律宾中部沉没，这次事件给原本已经糟糕的菲律宾航海业安全记录又添加了一个大污点。截至本周四，救援人员已经发现了48名幸存者，但是也有70具尸体，744人仍下落不明。菲律宾当局对于再发现幸存者不报有任何希望。本次沉船事件有可能成为菲律宾近20年来最为惨重的海上事故。
The route taken by the 24,000-tonnes Princess of the Stars from Manila heading for the central city of Cebu took it straight into the path of the approaching Typhoon Fengshen. The coastguard received a signal saying the ship had engine trouble and that it had run aground just off the island of Sibuyan. Survivors said that the order to abandon ship was given, but that the vessel capsized shortly afterwards in high winds and rough seas.
据悉，”群星公主”号渡轮排水量为24,000吨，预定航程为从马尼拉启程，终点为宿务岛的中心城市，然而它的航程正好进入了”风神”号台风的影响范围。菲海上警卫队曾收到这艘船的信号，说她的引擎出现问题，正漂流在布延岛海岸。幸存者回忆弃船命令当时已经下达，但是很快”群星公主”就被急风巨浪所吞没。
An official inquiry will focus on the captain’s decision to sail into the teeth of an oncoming storm and the coastguard’s decision to allow the voyage. It will also examine the seaworthiness of the vessel and the competence of its crew. The owners, Sulpicio Lines, said the vessel was only 24 years old (positively new, by Philippine standards) and that it met all the safety requirements.
菲官方的调查主要集中在船长将船驶入风暴区域的命令和菲海岸警卫队批准这次航行两个方面。除此之外，还要检查这艘船是否适于继续航行和船员的工作资质。”群星公主”的拥有者–苏尔皮西欧船运公司表示这艘船只有24年船龄（按照菲律宾的标准是相对很新的一艘船），她符合所有安全标准。
The domestic shipping industry is vital to the economy of the archipelago, but its history is one of lethal mishaps. In 1987 the world’s most deadly peacetime shipping disaster occurred in the central Philippines, when another ship owned by Sulpicio Lines, the Dona Paz, sank with the loss of more than 4,000 lives. The rules governing shipping safety are comprehensive, but they are often weakly enforced and circumvented by corruption. Official encouragement of competition on domestic routes in the 1990s prompted owners to buy newer and bigger ships. But since then the advent of cheap air travel has creamed off the highest-paying passengers. The Philippines provides about one-quarter of the world’s merchant seamen, but the best officers and crew are lured away by the pay offered by foreign shipping lines.
菲律宾的航海业对于菲这样的群岛国家的经济是至关重要的，但她的历史却是一部灾难史。1987年，苏尔皮西欧船运公司的另一艘船–“多纳-帕兹”号（Dona Paz）渡船在菲律宾中部沉没，超过4,000人遇难，这是世界历史上在和平时期发生的最严重海难。菲政府的航海安全条列是广泛详细的，但是这些条列经常不能很好的被执行，同时还受到腐败的影想。90年代，政府鼓励航线竞争，这促使船运公司购买新的大船，但是当时由于廉价航空时代的到来，那些高级客户都被航空公司抢走了。菲律宾提供了占世界四分之一的航海人士，但是那些最好的船长和船员都被国外船公司的高薪所吸引走了。
Human failings aside, no one can legislate for the weather. About two dozen typhoons or weaker storms hit the country every year. Apart from sinking the Princess of the Stars, Typhoon Fengshen left more than 700 dead or missing in various parts of the Philippines.
人为的过失先放在一边不说，没人可以约束天气。每年大约有20多次台风和风暴袭击这个国家。除了”群星公主”号的沉没，台风”风神”还使得菲律宾各地700多人死亡和失踪。
译者：http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=12341&extra=page%3D1