THE Mactan-Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB) wants the owner of the tanker that hit a column of the Marcelo Fernan bridge last Monday night to pay.
Even if structural damage is not severe, the board wants the owner to pay for the “sleepless nights” that members of the board will suffer, thinking about the damage to the structure.
The damage to the eight-year-old bridge is not that serious and there is no need to close it to traffic, a public works official said.
The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Coast Guard are pursuing the tanker, reportedly now in Cagayan de Oro City. They have yet to establish what caused the accident, how it happened and what liabilities can be pinned on the shipping firm.
The mt Damar, a 998.5-gross-ton vessel, sailed to Cagayan de Oro after the accident at 11 p.m. Monday, said Marina supervising shipping operations specialist Engr. Mardon Martin.
Marina will suspend the ship’s safety certificate as soon as officer-in-charge Jose Cabatingan signs the order. This will allow the Marina unit in Cagayan de Oro to hold the ship for investigation.
Coast Guard Visayas Command Chief Commodore Edmund Tan already contacted their office in Cagayan de Oro to impound the vessel, considering it did not report the incident when it left Mactan. Tan also said he has already spoken with the owner, who assured payment for the damage.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, chairperson of the MCBMB, wants an “explicit and strongly worded” demand letter sent to the owner. She called for an emergency meeting of the board yesterday afternoon.
Accountability
Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) legal officer Augustinito Hermoso were tasked to write the letter, which the governor wants sent today.
“I will demand accountability, especially financial accountability,” was Garcia’s immediate reaction upon hearing the report.
Fortuna also called on the Cebu Provincial Board to draft an ordinance that will penalize erring vessels for its negligence and not necessarily for the damage.
Cebu First Engineering District head Mario Montejo, who inspected the site with his project engineer Rey de los Angeles, said they noticed a scratch on the rubber damper, but that it was not serious. “Gamay ra kaayo ang makita nga evidence sa bag-id (The impact left a really small mark),” he said.
A rubber damper is wrapped around each bridge post and is designed to absorb the accidental impact of passing ships, to protect the concrete columns.
Closure
In a dyLA interview yesterday, Montejo said he saw no need to close the bridge to traffic as there were no cracks on the column.
Whether the ship owner can be held liable depends on the result of a more thorough inspection, scheduled soon, he added.
The head of the Mandaue City 701st Maritime Station, Chief Insp. Greg Togonon, said the accident was recorded in their blotter.
Then president Joseph Estrada inaugurated the P2.2-billion Marcelo Fernan bridge last Aug. 3, 1999.
Nearly 18 years ago, a ship also hit one of the columns of the first Mactan-Mandaue bridge, at the height of a typhoon. The damage required repairs and the temporary closure of the bridge for more than a month.
ABS-CBN reported that the ship hit the post and temporarily docked at a shipyard in Barangay Opao, Mandaue City, but left at dawn without the Coast Guard’s clearance.
Based on records, Martin said the ship left Cebu at 11 p.m. last March 10, heading for Cagayan de Oro. It belongs to Seatech Transport Inc., which is based on Bacolod City but registered with Marina 7. (OCP/JGA)
