Philippine ferry sinks; 700-plus passengers missing

[Copper10-8]

Very Sad!! Puts all this chatter about crying kids in the dining room and adherence to onboard dress codes in perspective!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080622/ts_nm/philippines_weather_dc_12

[Krazy Kruizers]

Heard this morning. Sad for all the families.

[brucory]

This is a tragedy and such terrible news for the Phillipines...:(

[jhannah]

This is sad, indeed, as is the typhoon that struck there. I wonder if some HAL crew members have families affected by the typhoon.

[mamaofami]

This is very sad.

[Druke I]

Very sad indeed.

I've been through several typhoons during my service in the Army, mid 50s, and they can be very rough. That was on Okinawa, North of the Phillipines.

In Nov 86, my wife and I were on the little Golden Odyssey (a 10,000 tonner) between Hong Kong and Manila, trying to outrun the back end of a typhoon.
We had green water over the bridge, screws out of the water, and the ship's inclinometer was pegged several times. It was very rough indeed,and my wife was fearful that the ship would capsize!

[the2ofus]

Whenever I hear news of natural disasters or political unrest in the Philippines, I always think of all the wonderful folks who have helped to make my HAL cruises enjoyable, and hope that their families are safe.

[May4]

You are so right. This news from the Philippines puts minor complaints in perspective.

I know all friends and family working on ships around the world are worried too.

[sassyredhat]

I saw this on TFC the Philippines channel.

My DIL is from the Philippines. Luckily, she is from Davao City which is the southern province and they are safe.

I was talking to her sisters on webcam on Fri. and asked them why their hair was wet. They said it was because it was raining so hard.

Whenever I start thinking that my life is hard, I just turn on Philippine news. Most Americans don't have a clue how good we have it.

Ok~~off my soapbox now. :D

Pat

[innlady1]

That is so very sad. Thank you for posting it, John. I wondered the same thing, Jim.

[kenish]

Whenever I start thinking that my life is hard, I just turn on Philippine news. Most Americans don't have a clue how good we have it.

Ok~~off my soapbox now. :D

Pat

Totally agree. I try to impress on my son that he has a 99+ percentile standard of living compared to the rest of the world. Fortunately he "gets" it, which is good for a teenager.

I also agree with the OP...there's another thread that asks how to evade the lifeboat drill, and we all complain about government overregulation at times. A culture of safety does help prevent tragedies like this one.

PS- I didn't know a lot of HAL staff is Filipino; I thought they were Indonesian. :confused:

[RuthC]

PS- I didn't know a lot of HAL staff is Filipino; I thought they were Indonesian. :confused:
Bar staff is Filipino, as are many of the cooks.

[themerle]

Thoughts and Prayers being sent to the people of that area.

[altosax]

Bar staff is Filipino, as are many of the cooks.

I can't remember all the names of all the bartenders whose bars I've sat at on HAL ships and chatted and tried to duplicate their bar tricks, but to Ernie and Red and Edwin and Ronald and all the others, my thoughts and prayers today are for them and their families.

[Copper10-8]

Bar staff is Filipino, as are many of the cooks.

Plus the ladies (and some guys) of the Front Office and some Deck Dept guys