Remembering 2004 Super Ferry 14 Bombing: World’s Deadliest Maritime Terrorist Attack, So Far

Saturday, 19 February 2011 02:46

Written by Rommel Banlaoi

Not known to many Filipinos, the world’s deadliest maritime terrorist attack occurred in the Philippines five years ago in Manila Bay.

On 27 February 2004, just days after the commemoration of the People Power Uprising in 1986, the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bombed the overloaded Super Ferry 14 carrying 900 passengers. The bombing instantly caused the death of 116 persons and the injury of more than 300 others.

The Super Ferry 14 bombing has been described as the world’s most lethal terrorist attack at sea. It made the ferry a floating inferno – a tragic incident that placed the Philippines again in the world’s security radar. It was also a watershed event as it demonstrated ASG’s aritime terrorist capability – something that was previously downplayed by Philippine law enforcement authorities.

The Philippine government initially declared the Super Ferry 14 blast as a mere accident, notwithstanding the bold admission of the ASG who claimed responsibility for the bombing. But the Philippine Board of Marine Inquiry that investigated the incident eventually confirmed that the blast was indeed the handiwork of the ASG.

Redento Cain Dellosa, a Muslim convert and member of the ASG-linked Rajah Solaiman Islamic Movement (RSIM), confessed to have planted the bomb onto the said ferry. Using a name Arnulfo Alvarado listed as passenger 51, Dellosa is currently in Bicutan Jail accused of that crime.

Maritime terrorism is inherent in the capability of ASG.

Most ASG members and followers belong to Muslim families and communities of fishermen with a century-old seafaring tradition. Because ASG members live close to the waters of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (BASULTA), they have gained tremendous familiarity of the maritime environment. If ttruth be known, most Muslim Filipinos living in coastal communities are experienced divers. ASG members’ deep knowledge of the maritime domain gives them ample capability to mount maritime terrorist attacks.

ASG’s first terrorist attack was, in fact, maritime in nature.

On 24 August 1991, the ASG bombed the M/V Doulous, a Christian missionary ship and a European floating library docked at the Zamboanga port. According to Abdurajak Janjalani, the bombing of M/V Doulous was a reaction of the group to the continuing military offensive against Muslims in the Southern Philippines. Janjalani even warned of more future violence to match, if not surpass, the violence inflicted by the Philippine military on the Muslim people.

But the Philippine government was regrettably clueless of the built-in maritime terrorist capability of the ASG at that time. Thus, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the Philippine Navy and the Philippine National Police Maritime Group did not regard the M/V Doulous incident as an act of maritime terrorism – something that is reflective of the limited intelligence gathering capability of Philippine law enforcement agencies. It was only after the Super Ferry 14 bombing when Philippine authorities finally realized that the ASG has indeed the capability to wage maritime terrorism.

Based on the classified interrogation of Gamal Baharan, a recently convicted ASG member involved in the 2005 Valentine’s Day bombings, some ASG members decisively took scuba diving lessons in southwestern Palawan as part of a plot for an attack at sea. Baharan also said that the late ASG Amir Khadafy Janjalani and the late ASG spokesman Abu Solaiman were in charge of the said maritime terrorist training.

After the Super Ferry 14 bombing, Abu Solaiman taunted the Philippine government in a radio interview by saying: “Still doubtful about our capabilities? Good. Just wait and see. We will bring the war that you impose on us to your lands and seas, homes and streets. We will multiply the pain and suffering that you have inflicted on our people.”

Now that we know that ASG has the capability to mount maritime terrorist attacks, does the group have the intent to mount such kind of attack again in the future?

I have reasons to believe so.

First, ASG members continue to operate at sea. The kidnapping of two Chinese-Malaysian workers from a seaweed farm in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia by ASG members on 8 February 2010 was a demonstration that the ASG continues to operate in the maritime domain.

Second, the ASG, despite its diminished strength due to intensive counter-terrorist operations, remains very active and retains sufficient capability to mount maritime terrorist attacks as some of its members who have been trained to undergo underwater operations are still at large.

Third, the ASG has established links with other threat groups with seaborne units. These groups do not only share common remorse against the Philippines government. They also share skills and information to carry out future terrorist attacks.

It is just a matter of time when the ASG mounts maritime terrorist attacks again. This is something our law enforcement authorities should prevent from happening in the future.

Like other terrorist groups in the world, the ASG is just waiting for the right opportunity to attack its target. Transportation facilities and critical infrastructures in the maritime domain are some of their identified targets.

The urgent task of Philippine law enforcement authorities is to continue denying the ASG and other threat groups in the country the opportunity to carry out their malevolent plans. Otherwise, the Philippines is doomed to suffer another maritime terrorist attack as the ASG continues to have the intent and capability to do so.

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