The Doña Paz

The MV Doa Paz, a passenger ferry built in Japan and registered in the Philippines, was the deadliest maritime accident ever recorded during peacetime. As previously stated, the list is not in any particular order. The ship departed a Philippine island early on December 20, 1987, and it was sailing toward Manila. The Doa Paz crashed with MT Vector, an oil tanker carrying more than a million liters of gasoline, that same evening. The Doa Paz experienced a large fire that swiftly spread throughout the vehicle, shocking the majority of the passengers. Only 25 people were able to escape unharmed.

Even though this was already among the worst maritime disasters in history, things only became worse as the accident inquiry went on. The Doa Paz had a capacity of roughly 1,500 passengers, but it soon became clear that the actual number of passengers on board was significantly greater. Due to the fact that it being the Christmas season and many more tickets had been sold illegally, no little children were included on the manifest.

The sobering estimate of the actual death toll grew and eventually surpassed 4,000. A special task force wasn't able to identify every single victim of the Doa Paz accident, which claimed 4,386 lives, until 1999.

Date:1987

Survivors: 25