The Philippine Coast Guard has released video footage of the dive operations being conducted to attempt to locate the last missing victims of a passenger vessel incident that left at least 65 people dead late last month.
The footage showed divers combing through the sunken wreck of the Ro-Pax ferry Trisha Kerstin 3, which lies at a depth of approximately 76 metres just off Baluk-Baluk Island in Basilan province in the southern Philippines.
The ferry suffered water ingress and sank in calm sea conditions while en route to Sulu province in the early morning (local time) of January 26, 2026. In addition to the 65 confirmed fatalities, 293 survivors have been recorded while 14 individuals have not yet been found.
The coast guard said its personnel have completed searching through the wreck and that dive operations in the surrounding waters will continue until Thursday, February 26.
Commodore Rejard Marfe, Commander of Coast Guard District Southwestern Mindanao, said that the divers have been working under hazardous conditions including near-zero visibility, strong currents and the presence of debris and oil contamination since January 28 and were able to recover 22 bodies from within the vessel.
Marfe added that underwater assessments show that the vessel is currently listing to port and that both exposed sides of the hull, including the ramps, remain intact with no visible external fractures. On the cargo deck, partially collapsed vehicles leaning to port created additional obstructions that made interior access more challenging.
The continuing dive operations will focus on re-swiping procedures, "to ensure that no area is left unchecked and to provide assurance to the families awaiting closure," Marfe concluded.
The Trisha Kerstin 3 tragedy is also the deadliest maritime incident to occur in Philippine waters since the August 16, 2013 sinking of the ferry St. Thomas Aquinas following a collision with another vessel off Cebu province. The incident involving Aquinas resulted in 108 confirmed fatalities and 29 people still unaccounted for among the ferry's 870 passenger and crew.
