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Sulpicio Lines (now Philippine Span Asia Carrier)

The shpping line that was haunted by disaster — and changed its name and business to survive

Transformed — Once one of the Philippines' largest and most well-known shipping lines, Sulpicio Lines was plagued by a series of maritime disasters — most catastrophically the 1987 sinking of the MV Doña Paz (over 4,000 deaths) and the 2008 sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars. It changed its name to Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. (PSACC) in 2009 and shifted from passengers to cargo.

Sulpicio Lines was for decades one of the Philippines' largest and most familiar shipping lines, carrying passengers and cargo between the islands of the archipelago. It was a household name, a lifeline for the country's island communities.

But the company was plagued by a terrible history of maritime accidents. The worst was the 1987 sinking of the MV Doña Paz, which collided with an oil tanker and went down with more than 4,000 people aboard — the world's worst peacetime sea disaster. It was followed by the 2008 sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars during Typhoon Frank, which killed around 850 people. By the late 2000s the company had been involved in dozens of sea accidents since 1980.

In 2009, in a bid for a fresh start and to distance itself from its disastrous reputation, the company changed its name to Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. (PSACC) and pivoted away from passenger ships to focus solely on freight. The name change did not erase its past, however — it continued to face hundreds of civil cases and to pay compensation to victims' families.

Quick facts

Era
Major Philippine shipping line
The disasters
MV Doña Paz (1987, 4,000+ deaths) and MV Princess of the Stars (2008, ~850 deaths)
Reputation
Decades of maritime accidents
Name change
2009 (to Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp.)
Pivot
Moved from passenger ships to cargo
Legacy
Rarely outran its past

Sources

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