The Superferry 9 of the WG&A left General Santos port at 8:45am Saturday, September 5, 2009 and bound for Iloilo. On board were 847 passengers and 117 crew members or a total of 964 people. Among these people were 28 crews of Star Cinema who came from a movie shoot in General Santos.

It began listing on early Sunday while sailing off the southern Zamboanga peninsula. At around 2:00am Sunday, according to the ship’s captain Jose Yap, the passengers were told to abandon ship when the ship tilted to right. Few hours later, the ferry started to sink.

Authorities called distress calls and rushed rescue vessels to the area. Passengers and crews were evacuated from tilting ferry and according to the  Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, about 800 people were evacuated before the ferry slid underwater. It was reported that about 80 people were still unaccounted for while atleast 3 people dead.

The cause of the listing of the Superferry 9 is still unknown and is still under investigation. Authorities are currently focusing on the search and rescue operation.