ZAMBOANGA CITY, 8 July 2005 — A fire razed an inter-island ferry yesterday in the southern Philippines, but all 249 passengers and crew were rescued by navy sailors backed by US troops, officials said.

Shipping operator Sulpicio Lines said the “MV Princess of the World” was sailing to Zamboanga City from Manila when the fire broke out at about 8 kilometers off Dulunguian Point near Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte province, 770 kilometers southeast of Manila

Sulpicio Lines spokesman Ulysses Yap said said all people on board, including 108 passengers, 109 crew members and five sea marshals were plucked out to safety.

Most of those rescued were brought to Siocon town, said local army commander Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Cayton.

Yap said the company received a distress call from the ferry before noon yesterday saying a fire was emanating from the engine room. About an hour later, the crew radioed they could no longer control the blaze and the skipper ordered the ship abandoned.

By late afternoon, the fire had consumed 40 percent of the vessel, he said.

“All passengers and crew members have been accounted for,” he said, adding that they had been taken by lifeboats to Siocon.

He said another Sulpicio ferry was diverted to bring them to nearby Zamboanga city in the south.

Coast Guard officials said it was not immediately clear what started the fire on the 10,709-ton ship, which left Manila on Tuesday.

Capt. Gilbert Rueras of the Coast Guard said the quick response of rescuers on board fast naval vessels prevented any human losses.

US service members, stationed in the southern Philippines as part of counterterrorism cooperation, were helping in the evacuations, said Philippine Navy Commodore Rufino Lopez.

Yap said the ferry, which can carry 1,916 passengers, was acquired by Sulpicio from Japan in 1996 and entered service the following year.

Most of the large Philippine ferries are refurbished Japanese vessels.

Sea accidents are common in the archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.

Sulpicio ships have been involved in several deadly accidents over the past 18 years. In December 1987, one of its ferries, MV Dona Paz, sank after colliding with a fuel tanker off Mindoro island south of Manila, killing more than 4,300 people in one of the world’s worst peacetime maritime disasters. (With a report by The Associated Press)