The cold harbor wind in Hamburg, Germany, carried a familiar scent of salt and cargo, but for veteran seafarer Dodong Vecenti, it would soon bring a chill from his distant past. The 58-year-old from Mercedes, Poro, Camotes Island, Cebu, had just docked the M/B Sea Dragon, his home for over three decades at sea. His sun-weathered skin told stories of ocean voyages, but his heart remained that of a simple, passionate Camotesnon.
A Strange Inquiry in a German Port
Standing on the deck, Dodong's routine was interrupted by the approach of a port official, a tall and serious German named Herr Klaus. Holding a crew list, the official confirmed his name. "Vecenti, Fernando?" he asked. "Dodong Vecenti, sir," came the reply, with a hint of nervousness. Herr Klaus's demeanor then shifted to one of curiosity as he read Dodong's place of origin.
"Camotes Island, Philippines," Herr Klaus said slowly, as if tasting the words. "This is very rare. You are really from Camotes?" Upon confirmation, the official revealed a baffling coincidence. A massive cargo vessel had just departed Hamburg. Its hold was filled with hundreds of tons of cacao beans, and its name was recorded in the logbook as the M/B Camotes.
According to the manifest, it had sailed from Camotes Island, Cebu, Philippines. "Is that not a large cacao plantation there? A big operation?" Herr Klaus inquired with business interest. Dodong's response was a soft whisper, laden with growing dread. "Sir, I have lived in Camotes for over 50 years. To my knowledge, we have no cacao plantation there, certainly not one large enough to fill a major cargo ship." He added that he also knew of no large cargo vessel by that name operating from his homeland.
A Childhood Memory and a Tragic History
Haunted by the image of a ship that shouldn't exist, Dodong found sleep elusive. In his cabin, sipping coffee, he was transported back to the stories told by his grandmother, Lola Zusa. She spoke of the engkanto (fairies) guarding the three islands of Camotes—Poro, Pacijan, and Ponson. They were not just nature's guardians but primary merchants in the spirit world.
"Cacao beans, Dodong," his lola had said, "are not just for people. They trade them for gold and treasures from other realms. Beneath our feet, Camotes is a vast Cacaowan for the fairies." The connection struck him like a falling mast: the M/B Camotes, laden with cacao, from Camotes.
His mind then raced to a real and horrifying event from his youth: the 1970s tragedy of the M/B Don Mopi. On a calm night, the small passenger ferry from Cebu to Poro was inexplicably struck and sunk in deep water by a massive, darkened vessel sailing without lights. Many perished, but survivors reported something unbelievable.
They insisted it was no ordinary ship. Its horn sounded like a deep groan from the earth. They described it as a "mountain sailing," and some claimed to see transparent containers full of what looked like cacao beans. The official investigation never identified the vessel that caused the disaster, dismissing survivor accounts as trauma-induced confusion.
The Unsettling Truth Surfaces
Now, over 40 years later in a German port, the pieces fell into place for Dodong Vecenti. The M/B Camotes was not a legend. It was real—the fairy ship, carrying its magical cargo from the secret plantations of Camotes. The terrifying conclusion was inescapable: on that fateful night in the 1970s, as it journeyed towards Europe on its mystical trade, the M/B Camotes was the colossal, unseen vessel that collided with and sank the M/B Don Mopi.
For Dodong, the fairy tales of his childhood had collided with the brutal reality of a historical maritime disaster. The ship of the engkanto, carrying their miracles, had left a permanent scar on the human world, and its name, discovered in a Hamburg logbook, was the key to a mystery buried for decades beneath the waves of the Camotes Sea.
