Monday, February 04, 2008 About to dock, ferry thumps barge; 31 hurt
THIRTY-ONE passengers suffered minor injuries when a Bohol-bound fastcraft accidentally slammed into an anchored barge off the Tagbilaran City port last Saturday night.
Petty Officer 3 Arnulfo Gesultora of the Coast Guard Cebu told Sun.Star in a telephone interview that the accident occurred at 8:15 p.m.
The Oceanjet 3 vessel, which was carrying 140 passengers, was maneuvering to dock when its bow accidentally hit the right side of LCT Valerie, which was anchored meters away from the port area.
The collision dented both the Oceanjet and the barge, but the fastcraft was deemed safe enough to travel back to Cebu yesterday. The barge carried river sand from Leyte.
Gesultora quoted an initial report submitted by Coast Guard Tagbilaran Station Commander Jose William Isaga to the Coast Guard Cebu for his update.
The Oceanjet’s captain, Domingo Hoylar, said they didn’t see the barge, LCT Valerie, until it was too late. They only saw a tugboat, he said. Hoylar said they were going seven knots at the time and it was impossible to avoid hitting the barge.
Oceanjet 3 passengers were thrown off their seats upon impact.
The hospitals declared the victims safe and sent them home. But passenger Cecil Yap, a businesswoman from Tagbilaran, broke her leg in the accident. Yap owns the YY Home Builders Depot in that city.
Petty Officer Sereno Sambas of the Tagbilaran Coast Guard, in an interview with Sun.Star Superbalita Saturday night, said that despite the accident, the Oceanjet vessel managed to dock.
Ambulances were waiting at the pier and immediately brought the passengers to the nearest hospital. Most of the passengers suffered minor bruises and cuts.
The vessel left Cebu City port past 6 p.m., Sambas said.
According to a radio dyAB report, Sambas said they have requested the captains of both Oceanjet and Valerie to submit their marine protests, which will be used in the investigation.
Among the details that investigators will check is if the barge’s crew had put up warning devices while anchored some 500 meters away from the pier.
Sambas said it was the first time that Oceanjet figured in an incident in the Tagbilaran port.
Capt. Enrique Degamo, president of the Tagbilaran Harbor Pilot Association, said the Oceanjet 3 didn’t follow its route in entering the Tagbilaran Channel.
Last month, the MV Dipolog Princess ran aground in the same area where last Saturday’s accident happened. (JST/With Cesar Capangpa-ngan, Superbalita correspondent)
