CEBU: Philippine rescuers struggled in rough seas Sunday as they resumed a bleak search for 85 people missing in the country's latest ferry disaster, but insisted miracle survivor stories were possible.
Thirty-four people have been confirmed killed after the ferry, carrying more than 800 passengers and crew, sank almost instantly on Friday night following a collision with a cargo vessel outside a major port in the central city of Cebu.
Stormy weather forced an early suspension of search and rescue operations with a few hours of daylight remaining on Saturday, and similar conditions hampered the effort when rescuers returned to the waters at dawn on Sunday morning.
Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory Fabic said the weather had prevented divers from reaching the interior of the sunken vessel, where many of those missing were believed trapped, but rescuers would make every effort to get there.
"It is possible that there are air pockets in its compartments and there might be survivors," Fabic told AFP, adding people could survive for 72 hours in such conditions.
"There is still hope that there might just be survivors there."
The number of people officially listed as missing was sharply reduced on Sunday to 85 from 170 due to tallying issues rather than any fresh rescues, with 34 confirmed killed.
The number of missing was cut after those involved in the search reconciled their figures, said Neil Sanchez, regional disaster management office head in Cebu.
Authorities were unable to say how many people may be in the sunken ship, which is at a depth of about 30 metres (98 ft), offering hope more tallying issues could lead to the number of missing dropping further.
By mid-morning divers had searched parts of the outside of the vessel, and found the bodies of a man and a woman, Jaypee Abuan, a navy spokesman aboard one of the patrol crafts, told AFP.
"(But) we have not yet breached the interior," he said, while forecasts of continued stormy weather throughout the day raised doubts that a full-throttle dive mission could be launched.
Meanwhile, navy vessels, coastguard personnel on rubber boats and volunteer fishermen scoured about three square kilometres (1.8 square miles) of water outside the port for anyone who may still be floating.
While maintaining that all hope had not yet been lost, authorities cautioned the odds of finding any more survivors were low.
"We are still hopeful, although you have to accept the reality that their chances of survival are very slim," the head of the provincial disaster management office, Neil Sanchez, told reporters from rescue command centre at the port.
The ships collided as they were going in opposite directions at a well-known choke point near the mouth of Cebu's port.
Authorities said the St Thomas Aquinas ferry sank within 10 minutes of the crash.
The cargo ship, Sulpicio Express 7, which had 36 crew members on board, did not sink. Its steel bow had caved in on impact but it sailed safely to dock.
Government regulator the Maritime Industry Authority said both vessels had passed safety checks and were sea worthy, indicating human error was to blame for one of the ships going into a wrong lane.
Ferries are one of the main forms of transport across the archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, particularly for the millions of people too poor to fly.
But sea accidents are common, with poor safety standards and lax enforcement typically to blame.
The world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster occurred near the capital Manila in 1987 when a ferry laden with Christmas holidaymakers collided with a small oil tanker, killing more than 4,300 people.
In 2008, a huge ferry capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan, leaving almost 800 dead.
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