Jomalia reps admit mistakes

CEBU. Workers use a backhoe to retrieve mv Mika Mari 8 on Sunday morning, September 1, 2019. The ship titled on its side while it was unloading cargo and passengers in the port of Barangay Consuelo, San Francisco, Camotes Island last Aug. 31. (Contributed photo/Arianne Capao)
CEBU. Workers use a backhoe to retrieve mv Mika Mari 8 on Sunday morning, September 1, 2019. The ship titled on its side while it was unloading cargo and passengers in the port of Barangay Consuelo, San Francisco, Camotes Island last Aug. 31. (Contributed photo/Arianne Capao)

JOMALIA Shipping representatives admitted that several lapses on the part of its crew had led to the capsizing of MV Island Roro 1 at the Consuelo Port in San Francisco, Camotes last August 31.

Philippine Coast Guard Camotes Station head Lt. Michael Encina also disclosed in a Congressional inquiry last Saturday that a lot of factors, mostly stemming from Jomalia’s non-implementation of required safety procedures, had caused the incident.

Rep. Duke Frasco (Cebu, 5th District) said that although there was no casualty, the inquiry that he initiated was a necessary proactive measure to prevent similar incidents that might lead to worse consequences.

During the inquiry it was pointed out that this is the second time a Jomalia ship had capsized at Consuelo Port, the first time having occurred in December 2012 also due to the crew’s failure to unload cargo safely.

“This is a matter of grave public interest. Sea transport is such an essential part of the lives of our constituents especially sa mga taga Camotes ug sa Norte. It is unacceptable that their lives are put at risk only because of a lack of care for safety procedures. This could have easily been prevented had Jomalia learned its lesson from its lapses the first time around. If nothing is done to properly regulate these lapses, what if simbako sa sunod na malunod ilang barko naa nay mangamatay?” Frasco stated.

The investigation was attended by officials from the Philippine Coast Guard, the MARINA 7, the Cebu Port Authority, LMP President and Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, and representatives from Jomalia Shipping.

Mayor Frasco pointed out that even if Jomalia’s permit to operate will expire on 2034 yet, the company’s lapses on safety measures could be a ground for revocation of its permit to operate. The Danao-Consuelo port is servicing passengers in the fifth district, which include Liloan.

Mark Velasquez, Jomalia Shipping’s “Designated Person Ashore,” admitted that they need to retrain or reorient their crew and strictly implement the safety measures on board.

Among the lapses that Velasquez admitted were: First, they do not determine the actual weight of the cargo or trucks before these are loaded on the ship. With the absence of a weigh bridge at the Danao port and in the Consuelo port, the weight of the cargo onboard is not being considered vis-à-vis the capacity of the vessel. The MV Island Roro 1’s capacity is 85.2 tons but a later analysis of the cargo showed that it the ship was carrying over 110 tons of cargo and was overloaded by over 25 tons. And lastly, the ship master and the chief mate, who are the top officials responsible for the ship, only had two and a half months experience with MV Island Roro 1. Therefore, they were not experienced in handling the kind of vessel and the characteristics of the vessel that listed.

Encina, meanwhile, said that the Marine Casualty Investigation done by their office showed that overloading was not the main issue in the incident. Even without a weigh bridge, Encina said, ship crew always check the Plimsoll line as basis for safe loading0. The plimsoll line is the reference mark located on the ship’s hull, indicating the maximum depth to which the boat may be immersed safely with the load.

The factors that led to the accident, Encina said, were the placing of the cargoes/trucks

inside the vessel. Two trucks loaded with 700 bags of cement each were placed not in the middle of the ship but on the left and right side adjacent to each other “for balance.” When one of the trucks moves to disembark, the weight shifted only to one side of the boat. Worse, the truck that disembarked had oil or grease on its tires, and skidded to the other side when the driver lost control of the vehicle. When the truck moved to the other side, all the cargoes also slipped to that side, leading to the listing of the ship. The last line of defense for what happened would have been the mooring line, which could have helped stabilize the ship by countering the weight change. Unfortunately, the line was also not properly secured by the crew before the unloading.

Marina 7 Director Mark Anthony Pascua said that unless Jomalia learns to implement religiously the required safety measures, there will always be the possibility that another such incident would take place. This was already Jomalia’s second accident, since another listing of its vessel at the same port was reported on December 2012, a year after the shipping company began its operations.

Cebu Port Authority General Manager Leonilo Miole, in response to the inquiry, said that he will check if his agency can provide weigh bridges in all government ports in Cebu.

Jomalia is one of three shipping companies operating on the Danao-Camotes route. But Cong. Frasco said that Jomalia has the bigger responsibility because it serves the bulk of the number of passengers.

“You are putting the lives of passengers at risk because you did not follow your safety procedures,” the congressman told Jomalia representatives. “If we come across as passionate about this, it’s because we are gravely concerned for the welfare of the passengers,” he added, admitting that with the way things are, he would not feel safe riding with any of Jomalia’s ships. (PR)

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