Thursday, July 03, 2008 Ship captain not hiding: official
IF mv Princess of the Stars captain Florencio Marimon is alive, he will not hide from his responsibility, Sulpicio Lines assistant vice president Ryan Bernard Go said yesterday.
Marimon, Go said, was a responsible man.
Go yesterday denied allegations Marimon is in hiding.
“He is not a person who hides from responsibility. I assure you, he will show up,” Go told Sun.Star Cebu.
Vice President Noli de Castro cited a report that claimed the captain was hiding to avoid scrutiny. The report said Sulpicio Lines was keeping Marimon and a certain Dennis Lagahid, who is said to be a survivor of the sinking, in a safehouse.
Go said Marimon is still missing and that “even his family doesn’t know where he is.”
Both Marimon and Lagahid have not been spotted although Lagahid’s name appeared in the list of survivors on the Sulpicio Lines website.
“The captain has a very good moral record,” Go kept saying yesterday.
He added that Marimon was a “very active” member of a religious community and was a devotee of the Virgin Mary.
A visibly agitated Go called the allegations “unfair” and appealed for fair treatment, especially from the media.
“This is a national tragedy,” Go said.
He stressed that it was not only mv Princess of the Stars that sank in Romblon. Eight other vessels also sank in the same area during Typhoon Frank.
Go added that Sulpicio Lines complied with International Standard Organization (ISO) requirements in building and operating their vessels.
“Our ships have been among the most quality-awarded ships for the past 3 years,” he said.
The 23,800-gross ton mv Princess of the Stars was the company’s largest vessel.
Go also appealed to the public to separate the incident involving mv Princess of the Stars from the company’s ship mishaps in the past.
On September 18, 1998, Sulpicio Lines-owned mv Princess of the Orient met disaster on its way to Cebu. The ship ran aground in Cavite, causing the loss of at least 150 lives.
But Go said this and other incidents must be isolated from the present tragedy because “lessons have been learned.”
Go’s sentiments echoed that of Inocencia Marimon, the captain’s elder sister. An earlier Sun.Star Cebu report quoted her as saying that Marimon “will never run away from his responsibility”.
She added that Marimon would always do rounds to check on the safety of passengers aboard the ship.
Inocencia suspected her brother was “trapped” inside the sunken vessel, as maritime procedure mandates that a captain be the last to leave a vessel when in it is in distress.
Meanwhile, cargo vessels of Sulpicio Lines are now allowed to sail. President Arroyo on Tuesday ordered Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to allow the vessels to operate.
Cebu vehicle dealers had appealed to the government to lift the grounding of the cargo vessels since they have already lost millions since the ferry sank.
The Cebu Auto Dealers Association (Cada), which represents 10 vehicle companies, said it failed to receive its monthly average shipment of 400 vehicles from Manila to different parts of Visayas and Mindanao after the government grounded Sulpicio’s fleet, especially its roll-on roll-off vessels.
“We are now feeling the crunch and if the situation reaches a critical level, we will be forced to scale down our operations,” the organization, which employs around 500 workers, said in its letter to Mendoza.
Marylou Neri of Isuzu Cebu Inc. said Cada members lost around 80 vehicles worth P60 million to P70 million when Princess of the Stars sank last June 21.
However, the vehicles were insured and they only had to cover the incidental costs, which represent around 15 percent of the total amount.
But with the loss of 80 vehicles and the delay in the delivery of others, Brian Chua, president of Suzuki AutoCebu, said they could only appeal to their buyers for understanding.
Alan Jesus Salmero of Chevrolet Cebu said the government should consider taking care of shipping 40 percent of the cargoes, which are now pending in Manila.
Sulpicio is reportedly handling the shipment of 40 percent of the cargoes in the country, so the grounding of its fleet is hurting many sectors, the group added. (KAB/CYR)
