FACTBOX: Ferry disasters, the bane of Asia's poorer nations

(Reuters) - Rescuers held little hope on Tuesday of finding some 800 people missing from a ferry that capsized off an island in the central Philippines during a typhoon on Saturday.

Here is some background on risks and safety policy in Asia's busy sea lanes and oceans.

-- Ferries rank as one of the safest forms of transport in North America and Europe, but are responsible for roughly 1,000 deaths a year in developing countries, according to industry bodies, the International Maritime Organisation and Interferry.*

-- In Asia, where shipping routes and ferries are critical to moving the goods and people fuelling regional economic growth, maritime safety agreements have focused on piracy and transnational crime at sea, such as illegal drugs, smuggling and illegal migration.

-- Governments in countries regularly hit by typhoons, such as the Philippines, typically require ferry operators to obey storm warnings, and not carry passengers or goods in excess of capacity. Rule-breakers can be fined, but analysts say corruption sees dodgy operators ignore such warnings with little chance of punishment.

-- Maritime disasters are relatively rare in richer Asian states, such as Japan and Singapore, despite their locations on some of the world's busiest sea lanes. But recurring accidents kill hundreds every year in countries as the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and India where ferries are often the main mode of transport.

-- Analysts attribute the stark differences in ferry disasters and fatality rates around the world, and within Asia, to richer nations' tighter, better-enforced safety rules, and good road infrastructure, which offers alternatives to water transport.

-- Overcrowding, a lack of safety gear, substandard or ageing ships, patchy radar and weather monitoring, badly-trained crews, capsizing due to cargo imbalance, the flouting of safety warnings, and collisions have all contributed to ferry disasters in poorer countries.

-- Official moves to reduce risks have sometimes been resisted. In 2003, Bangladesh tried to cut ferry fatalities by forbidding night sailings during monsoon storms, but the ban was rescinded after ferry operators protested.

-- The Philippines says its safety record is improving. In 1997 the maritime authority cracked down on unsafe passenger and cargo ships, after fire destroyed a ferry docked in Manila in the country's costliest sea disaster (800 million pesos, then about $30 million).

* There are no precise overall fatality figures for Asia's ferry disasters, as operators often do not keep complete passenger lists.

Source: Reuters, Interferry (www.interferry.com/safety/), The National Centre for Transit Research (www.nctr.usf.edu/jpt/pdf/JPT%208-4S%20Lawson.pdf)

(Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Beijing Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)