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Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Trans Asia reps deny overloading their vessels
By Yuri Locsin
REPRESENTATIVES of shipping firm Trans-Asia Inc. denied Monday they allowed the overloading of passengers in their vessels.
In Monday's City Council session, Councilor Caesar Acenas complained that he encountered this problem firsthand in a recent trip aboard the ship.
He said the vessel issued two to three tickets with the same deck number, causing passengers to argue over who gets to occupy which deck beds.
"(Because) of this carelessness vessels often carry passengers more than its usual load...convenience is a problem and with it safety is also at risk," Acenas said.
In response, Trans-Asia representative Atty. Dexter Venan said Coast Guard personnel do headcounts before the vessel departs from the port area.
He said extra passengers are usually advised to disembark from the vessel.
"The captain will sign first a note clarifying that the vessel that will depart is not overloaded...these requirments are a must for safe sailing," Venan said.
He said if the captain fails to sign the agreement, the vessel won't be allowed by the Coast Guard to leave the port.
Venan said in the event there are tickets with the same deck numbers it can still be resolved.
Acenas said passengers have long complained about this but refused to put this in writing in order to avoid the hassle of following up on their complaints.
Later Councilor Edgar Cabanlas said the problem lies in how the company itself handles the issuance of tickets.
He said shipping firms must instruct their outlets to clarify first the number of decks before issuing a ticket.
"It is very clear that (Trans Asia) committed these mistakes and violated some rules...as a result the passengers were (inconvenienced)," Cabanlas said.
Councilor Ian Nacaya then said the incidence of overloading do occur and added that the company should check the number of passengers leaving the port so that the passengers would be spared the discomfort.
"Additional vessels would (resolve) the problem...we know that every Sunday the vessel is the only one that sails from Cebu going here," Nacaya said.
For his part, Councilor President Elipe said even if this problem is resolved the passengers are not spared from the other hassles posed by the ship.
"The one controlling the number at their office is the one who had made the mistake...sanitation is also the problem in some of (the) vessels," Elipe said.
The council then told Trans Asia representatives to designate more vessels traveling from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro especially on Sundays to accommodate all the passengers and avoid the possibility of overloading.
(December 9, 2003 issue)
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