Members of the Philippine Coast Guard tow the recovered bodies from the ill-fated M/V Catalyn-B which sank on Christmas Eve. The bodies were retrieved off Limbones Island in Cavite last Tuesday. (Photo by JOHN CARLO CAHINHINAN)

Fourteen bodies were discovered on Tuesday by a group of deep-sea divers during retrieval operations from the ill-fated M/V Catalyn-B, which sank after colliding with a fishing vessel in the early hours of December 24, 2009 off Limbones Island in Cavite.

Less than 30-minutes after four highly-trained divers from PhilTech ld by Alex Santos descended to the 221-foot deep wreckage site, they were immediately able to recover the bodies of passengers trapped when the vessel sank.

Of the victims, seven were female and two were infants.

The PhilTech divers were hired and commissioned to retrieve the victims from the passenger boat by the ship's operator, San Nicholas Shipping Lines, last Sunday after Coast Guard diver, PO3 Armand Bonifacio, died while performing the risky task Friday afternoon.

Other Coast Guard divers were on hand to assist the PhilTech divers in the retrieval operations.

Santos said their first dive was actually a survey but upon noticing that several bodies were scattered in the wrecked vessel, he and his team decided to retrieve the victims at once.

Medical personnel aboard BRP Pampanga, which is being used in the recovery operations, are still verifying the identities of the victims.

As of the latest count, there are already 25 confirmed deaths from the pre-Christmas Eve sinking, with two still missing.

Santos said they believe two more bodies were inside the MV Catalyn-B and they are hoping to finish retrieval operations before the end of the week.

The Coast Guard will start its formal investigation on the collision and sinking incident by Thursday.