Monday, November 13, 2006 Stakeholders to discuss plan
THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) will consult with ship owners and captains of the plan to allow them to leave even without clearance from Marina and Philippine Coast Guard (CG).
Marina is the agency tasked to implement maritime laws and regulate sea transport. Because it is undermanned, the CG is deputized.
Marina 7 Director Glenn Cabañez said the draft rules will be signed by Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo once they get the opinion of the Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators (VAFCSO).
Under a new rule, the ship captain will no longer wait for CG personnel to inspect the vessel before they can leave port.
Owner’s discretion
“They (ship owners and captains) are the ones who will decide whether they will depart or not. If the captain will decide to sail or depart, he will just submit Master’s Oath of Safe Departure (MOSD) to Marina and Coast Guard,” Cabañez said.
“We will give the ship owner and the ship captain the discretion to depart or not and by submitting the MOSD, we will make them responsible for their action,” Cabañez said.
Chester Cokaliong, president and chief executive officer of Cokaliong Shipping Lines and VAFCSO president, said this new rule, if implemented, will speed up the departure of vessels and eliminate abuses of CG personnel.
At present, a vessel cannot leave port without CG clearance.
Delays
Cokaliong said that sometimes the departure of a vessel is delayed by about one hour while the departures of cargo vessels are delayed by two days because some CG personnel outside Cebu will not give clearance.
In most cases, Coast Guard cites overloading of passengers. But CG Commodore Alejandro Flora said there is no such thing as overloading — only overcrowding of passengers, because a vessel may have passengers beyond its sitting capacity but is still not overloaded because it has no cargoes on board.
Cabañez said there is no law that requires the ship captain or ship owner to secure CG clearance first before departure.
“The Philippine Coast Guard which is only deputized by Marina has no authority to hold a vessel,” Cabañez said.
Cokaliong said they were informed that Marina will call a dialogue with them after the draft rules will be finalized in Manila. (EOB)
