Philippine rescuers managed to save 931 passengers and crew members on board a huge ferry that tilted and sank early Sunday morning in the waters off the archipelago's southern coast, officials said.

This photo released by the Philippine Navy shows the ill-fated SuperFerry 9 in the high seas of Baturampon Point in the coast off Zamboanga in southern Philippines, Sept. 6, 2009. [Xinhua]

Glenn Rabonza, executive officer of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), said Sunday evening that search is still on for the 28 missing from the capsized Superferry 9 that carried 964 people on board.

Rabonza said navy ships, coast guard teams, commercial and fishery vessels are operating in the accident site, about 9.5 nautical miles west of Siocon town of Zamboanga del Norte province, to account for the missing.

NDCC Chairman Gilbert Teodoro earlier told a press briefing that the ship's captain sent out a distress call at around 4 a.m. (0800 GMT) Sunday as the vessle was seriously tilting to its right- side.

Coast guard authorities said passengers were given life-jackets and told of the captain's order to abondon ship. Two cargo vessles stood by to collect the transferred passengers while the coast guard sent it rescue boats to the scene.

"I was wakened to the noise in the cabin. They asked us to jump off the ship to the life-boats," a survivor told Xinhua after she was ferried to the Zamboanga port late Sunday. "The life-boats are not enough and I think some people were panic and failed to escape. "

Survivors of Superferry 9 walk past security personnel after disembarking from a rescue vessel at the port of Zamboanga, southern Philippines, Sept. 6, 2009. [Xinhua]

Officials said the ship, which left southern city of General Santos Saturday and headed for central city of Iloilo, totally sank at around 10 a.m., 6 hours after it first sent the distress signal.

Rabonza said the incident was "allegedly caused by a hole in the hull" but the investigation is still on.

Charlote Amarillo, another survivor arriving at Zamboanga, told Xinhua that a large sound similar to a minor explosion was heard in the lower portion of the ship before it started to tilt.

Seamen familiar with the operation of ferries said the containment might not have been placed even and the sound could be caused by sliding cargo that hit the hull.

Weather was rough near the southern Zamboanga peninsular late Saturday.

Marine-time tragedies are a commonplace in the Philippine archipelago. A ferry carrying 862 on board sank in a typhoon in central Philippines last summer. More than 800 people were killed or remain missing.

The Superferry 9, which can carry 1,120 passengers and crew, has been in operation since 1996. It underwent dry-docking in June 2007 and is scheduled to undergo a similar process during the first quarter of next year.