MANILA, Philippines - Coast guard rescuers failed to take pictures of the ill-fated Catalyn B ferry off Limbones Island in Cavite province during an operation on Friday, furthering the delay of the retrieval of 24 bodies believed trapped inside the sunken ferry.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said BRP Pampanga, carrying rescuers and a remote-operated vehicle (ROV), sailed off its headquarters to Limbones Island around 9 a.m. to take pictures of the sunken ferry.

The PCG said the pictures would help rescuers plan the retrieval of the trapped bodies from the sunken ship, which was 221 feet below the surface and at least 2 nautical miles away from the island.

The ROV was brought down from the PCG vessel around 3 p.m., but in at least 10 minutes, its power generator malfunctioned. The power generator's failure erased pictures already taken by the ROV, making the operation useless.

The operation was wrapped up at 5 p.m. The PCG said the BRP Pampanga will return on Saturday morning to try to get footage of the sunken ship.

The PCG said at least 24 people are believed trapped inside the sunken ship. The official death toll so far is 3 while 46 passengers were rescued.

The ferry, carrying at least 73 people, was on its way to Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro from Manila when it sank on Christmas Eve, at least 2 nautical miles from Limbones Island off Maragondon town.

The wooden-hulled ferry sank after smashing into the steel-hulled fishing vessel “Anatalia.” The government has grounded other boats of the owners of the 2 vessels.

A team of PCG auxiliary divers led by Matthew Caldwell has spotted 12 bodies floating inside the sunken ferry.

Caldwell had said that at least 2 of the bodies belonged to children and the others were a mix of adult male and females.

Two days after the Catalyn B's sinking, another ferry vessel, M/V Baleno 9, sank off Isla Verde in Batangas City.

The PCG has placed the death toll at 6, but at least 50 more passengers remained missing based on a "supplemental manifest" submitted by the ferry's owner to the PCG.

A total of 73 passengers have been rescued by joint teams of the PCG, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force and volunteer divers.