Thursday, June 26, 2008
Marina starts inspections on Sulpicio ships
THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has started inspecting and auditing the 12 passenger vessels of Sulpicio Lines Inc. but not one of them, for now, is cleared to resume operations, said Director Glenn Cabañez.
The suspension of the vessels’ Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC), ordered by Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo Jr., can only be lifted if there are no defects found in the vessels and the boarding and loading procedures, Cabañez said.
In Manila, said Suazo, they have inspected the mv Filipinas Princess and mv Cotabato Princess.
In Cebu, the inspection focused on the Princess of the South, but the audit on the Cagayan Princess was stopped because the ship was assigned together with the mv Cebu Princess to ferry the fatalities, survivors and supplies.
Even if the ships are already inspected, that does not mean Marina will give clearance for these vessels to resume operations.
“We have to discuss the findings. I have to decide on the matter. I have to go over it, one by one,” Suazo said.
The Marina administrator also confirmed that the Cabinet, in a meeting the other day, decided to prohibit the departure of any vessel once storm signal number one is raised.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), he added, will come up with another advisory after receiving the transcripts of the Cabinet meeting.
In Memorandum Circular 04-07, the Coast Guard said that the “movement of any craft/vessel is left to the decision and responsibility of its master/ship owner” if signal number one is hoisted over the vessel’s point of origin, route or destination.
“The crisis management group we have created will finalize some changes in the rules and regulations over sea transport,” Suazo said.
Engr. Mardon Martin, Marina 7 maritime industry development specialist, said that experts from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila arrived in Cebu yesterday to help identify the fatalities.
Meanwhile, Maj. Christopher Tampus, spokesman of the Central Command (Centcom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that a C-130 was assigned yesterday to deliver relief goods. It will travel from Manila to Iloilo, Cebu and Romblon, then back to Manila.
But Tampus could say whether the C-130 is tasked to bring the bodies and the survivors back to Cebu. (EOB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 26, 2008 issue)
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