Salvors have recovered 199 decomposing bodies since Oct. 26 from an ill-fated ferry that capsized in the central Philippines months ago, reports said on Tuesday.

The M/V Princess of the Stars overturned off the central province of Romblon on June 21 at the height of Typhoon Fengshen with 862 people on board. No more than 60 survived the disaster.

Some 300 bodies were later found along the coast and most of the others are believed to be trapped inside the vessel, which is still floating upside down off Romblon.

Retrieval operations were delayed time and time again for various reasons, among which the biggest one was the toxic fertilizers found on the ferry. The authorities decided to take out the chemicals and about 250 tons of bunker fuel first to prevent contamination of the waters nearby. They did it last month.

Salvage firm Harbor Star is sending all the bodies to Cebu, a central Philippine city, and turning over them to the National Bureau of Investigation for identification, Philippine TV network GMA News reported.

Meanwhile, Wilfredo Tamayo, commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, said that they are waiting for the report of Harbor Star to see if it will try to retrieve more bodies.

Many passengers believed trapped in the vessel are still missing, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2008)