By Xinhua,
Manila : A United States navy ship is coming to the Philippine waters to assist the rescue of the over 700 missing on the sunken ferry “Princess of the Stars”, local media reported Monday.
“A US navy ship s now steaming towards the general area where the Sulpicio Lines capsized to assist in the search and rescue operations,” Philippine Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told news network INQUIRER.NET.
Dureza, who is with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her 10-day visit to the United States, said the information was relayed to her by U.S. Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney.
The report said the ship will come from the U.S. military base in Okinawa of Japan and is expected to arrive in the Philippines within 15 hours.
The 23,000-ton ship of the Sulpicio Lines, carrying more than 700 people on board, met rough weather at sea on Saturday noon and completely sank off on Sunday. Only 32 survivors have been rescued.