Thursday, July 17, 2008 Speak out: Sea accidents: an analysis, part 1 By Pepito C. Suello Apas, Cebu City
WHERE sea accidents happen, grandstanding by public figures hungry for media mileage follows.
One agency after another investigates in the guise of looking into the cause of the accident.
The famous is Congress, “in aid of legislation.” Sadly, except for the Shahani Bill that proposed the creation of a Department of Maritime Affairs, no law has been enacted to help prevent sea accidents.
In 2003, Congress, without consultation from the Philippine Coast Guard, passed RA 9295 entitled, “An Act Promoting the Development of Domestic Shipping, etc.”
This law conferred 17 vast powers to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) including the power to inspect vessels in the guise of ensuring and enforcing compliance with safety standards.
It did not help but promote sea accidents.
Maritime safety was previously a function of the Coast Guard (CG) under RA 5173 passed by Congress in 1967.
For 36 years the CG sent its best minds for schooling in the best schools abroad, particularly the US Coast Guard
Academy.
It also sent its best men to seminars on international maritime standards abroad.
RA 9295 unceremoniously stripped the CG of all powers given to it by RA 5173 and PD 601 and transferred these to Marina, which was only a franchising and regulatory body created by PD 474.
The CG, a uniformed organization previously an elite unit of the Navy, had vast manpower resources scattered in strategic
places in the country.
The CG had the technical expertise to enforce maritime safety in accordance with international standards.
It had floating assets capable of safeguarding and enforcing maritime laws
The CG closely monitored and supervised the enforcement of safety standards on domestic ships.
Not anymore.
Sea vessels
Domestic ships are usually decommissioned roll-on roll-off ships purchased from Japan.
Under RA 9295, the ship is classed on the date of acquisition by a government accredited classification society prior to their operation in the domestic trade.
To me, a ship should be classed not on the date of acquisition but before it is released for domestic operation, preferably, by an international classification society.
But surplus ships won’t pass assessment by an international classification society.
Surplus ships are seaworthy at the time of acquisition and goes directly to a shipyard here where the ship-owner introduces major alteration on the ship’s super-structures to accommodate more passengers.
The ship-owner then commissions a naval architect to prepare the ship’s accommodation and cargo plans. MARINA approves these plans. Once approved, the alteration commences.
The metal ore on the ballast tanks of the ship are stripped off empty to gain draft (water-line).
Once the super-structure is completed, the ship drafts returns to normal.
This alteration affects the seaworthiness of the ship. It makes the ship a tender vessel.
In layman’s word, a floating coffin.
The size and condition of the ship always matters during bad weather: the bigger the ship, the safer.
Not anymore.
Princess of the Orient (the biggest luxury liner of her time) sank during signal no. 1, which has only a wind velocity of 30-60 kph.
The Board of Marine Inquiry declared the “Orient” a tender vessel, top heavy.
