On a Rocked Boat: a Special Report on Maritime Safety

Being an archipelago of at least 7,107 islands, travelling by boat is one of the most popular modes of transport in the country.

Boat travel is so popular that despite the sad occurrence and re-occurrence of several sea tragedies that claimed thousands of lives, this have not discouraged millions of people to travel by sea.

Add the fact that sea travel is quite affordable compared to air travel.

For the Record

Records show that in 2009, some 13,064,604 people arrived and left Cebu using different seaports in the province. The number increased in 2010 with 14,959,225 people and in 2011, over 15 million people. Figures for 2012, however, are not available yet.

Because inter-island vessels can accommodate hundreds or even thousands of passengers at one time as compared to planes that can only carry about 200 persons, most sea accidents claim more lives.

This is why shipping companies are always reminded by authorities to ensure the safety of their passengers during their voyage by complying with all the safety measures prescribed by the law.

Still, however, sea tragedies happen.

Sea Tragedies

The most recent maritime accident that claimed the lives of over a hundred people was the collision between Cebu bound passenger vessel St. Thomas Aquinas of 2GO Shipping and cargo vessel M/V Sulpicio Express Siete at Lauis Ledge near the south entrance to the Cebu harbor last month.

Cebu Coast Guard Station Commander Weniel Azcuna said many sea accidents were caused by human error, which means that ship officials and crewmen were negligent in the performance of their duty to always ensure the safety of the vessel as well as its passengers.

Aside from human error, there are also sea accidents caused by mechanical failure, or force majeure like bad weather conditions.

When Doña Paz of Sulpicio Lines capsized in 1987 after colliding with oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait near Marinduque in Romblon, the overcrowded passenger vessel caught fire and claimed the lives of 4,341 people, including the vessel’s crew.

The number of casualties in the Doña Paz accident was even higher compared to the 1,517 casualties of the RMS Titanic tragedy in 1912.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or Pagasa constantly gives weather condition updates to guide mariners and the public in general. However, there are some mariners who ignore these warnings.

When Pagasa places an area under Signal No. 1, seacrafts below 1,000 gross tons are already prohibited from leaving the ports. Skippers of big vessels are, however, given the prerogative to sail to their respective destinations.

The Princess of the Stars of Sulpicio Shipping Lines capsized off the coast of Romblon during a typhoon in June 21, 2008, killing close to 700 of its passengers, while its sister vessel, Doña Marilyn, sank in Leyte, also because of inclement weather conditions brought by typhoon Unsang on October 24, 2008 claiming the lives of 254 passengers.

Princess of the Orient, also of Sulpicio Lines, capsized in the seawaters off Batangas on October 18, 1998 while sailing from Manila to Cebu killing over 200 people, including Cebuano Court of Appeals (CA) Justice German Lee. Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, who was still a city councilor then, was among the survivors of that tragedy. He was rescued after floating in the cold waters off Batangas for 36 hours with the aid of a ring-type life saving equipment.

Labella, in an interview, said the Coast Guard should prevent vessels from leaving the port during bad weather, even if the typhoon is still several miles away to avoid accidents.

“Akong i-suggest nga daghanon g’yud unta sa mga shipping officials ang ilang life rings sa barko kay mosustiner kini og dugay diha sa dagat kon itandi sa mga life jackets,” the vice mayor said recalling his sacrifices.

Labella said when the Princess of the Orient started to sink, he was able to grab a life jacket. But hours later, his life jacket had slowly absorbed water and couldn’t keep him afloat anymore. Good thing, he added, he found a life ring floating nearby.

“Tingali ang tawo nga unang nakakuha adtong maong life ring namatay na og ako ‘sab nga nakuha,” he said.

There have been quite a number of other maritime accidents that claimed the lives of hundreds of passengers. These include the sinking of Doña Marilyn somewhere in Tanguingui and Manok-manok Islands while in route to Tacloban City from Manila on October 24, 1988 killing 77.

Another accident that caused the lives of 58 persons was the sinking of M/V Asia South Korea of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines that capsized off Bantayan in northern Cebu in December 23, 1999.

The collision between M/V Cebu City and M/V Kota Suria in Manila Bay in December 2, 1994 claimed the lives of 73 people, while the sinking of Doña Josefina in the seawaters off Isabel, Leyte also claimed the lives of 34 passengers in 1986.

Alteration of the Ship’s Original Design

Labella believes that one of the possible reasons that contribute to sea accidents is the alterations of the original structural designs of the vessels to accommodate more passengers in order to earn more revenues.

The Cebu City legislator is hoping that a congressman or senator will sponsor a bill that would strictly prohibit the alteration of the original structure of vessels when these are purchased second hand from other countries, particularly from Japan.

Most of our vessels are second hand, purchased from abroad. More often, to maximize passengers, the owners alter the structural designs of the vessels. Most of our vessels are so-called car vessels, but these were altered by adding decks to carry more passengers,” Labella said.

Coast Guard Commander Azcuna admitted that some shipowners altered the original structural designs of their vessels, but he believes that since the improvement has been approved by the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), these ships are still safe.

Azcuna explained that MARINA, the government agency task to handle the issuance of franchise to vessels, has naval architects that are capable of evaluating the safety of the new structural designs of a vessel.

“Kun imo gud nga pun-an ang deck sa barko mahimong apektado na ang iyang balance ug usa kini sa posible nga rason nga dali ra’ng malunod ang barko kun adunay bagyo,” Labella stressed.

But Azcuna said, “Mga barko nato are soundly safe because they have certifications from the MARINA whose personnel have the capability to evaluate the structural designs of the vessels and also assess the skills of the vessel’s crew members.”

Azcuna, however, emphasized that “the safety of the vessels is the primary responsibility of the shipowners and their ship officials.”

Maritime accidents can be prevented if the concerned government agency, as well as shipping officials will faithfully do their respective jobs to ensure the safety of the vessels, the passengers and crew members.

Compliance with the Law

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) under the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) is one of the government agencies tasked by law to ensure that all sea vessels comply with safety standards.

MARINA’s technical personnel, like the engineers and naval architects, conduct yearly inspection of vessels to find out if these are seaworthy. One aspect that is included in the inspection is the thickness of the metal in the vessel’s hull where an ultrasonic thickness gauge is used for the measurement.

“Kon nipis na gani ang puthaw sa hull sa barko basi sa ultrasonic thickness gauge, amo g’yud ingnon ang tag-iya nga pailisan kay kuyaw man og mabuslot na unya,” said MARINA legal officer Jose Cabatingan.

This is the reason why MARINA requires passenger vessels to be subjected to dry docking every year, and cargo ships once every two years.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said the alteration of a vessel’s original structural design to accommodate more passengers could be one of the contributing factors that affect the ship’s stability, making it vulnerable to sinking, especially during bad weather conditions.

“Dali ra matumba ang barko kon dugangan nila og mga deck aron lang g’yud pag-accommodate og daghang mga pasahero. Dili na lang g’yud unta pangusbon ang structural designs sa barko kay para nako mausab g’yud ang balanse sa barko,” Labella said.

MARINA’s Approval

But Philips J. Geniston, a naval architect employed by MARINA-7 office, said vessel owners cannot make any alterations on their vessels without the approval of their office.

Chester Cokaliong, chief executive and chief operating officer of Cokaliong Shipping Lines, admitted that even his company altered the structural designs of the vessels that he bought from Japan in order to provide more comfort to their passengers. He emphasized, however, that the alterations were done only after MARINA approved his request.

Geniston said that while their office may allow vessel owners to alter the original design of their ships, MARINA can still have the altered part removed if the results of the stability check, to be conducted after the completion of the renovation, will show that the vessel’s stability has been affected.

He recalled that MARINA once allowed the owner of a vessel plying the Bato, Leyte and Cebu City route to make some alterations on his ship, but it was later ordered removed.

Labella, however, insisted that “there should be a law that prohibits the alteration of the vessel’s structural design so that it will not affect the balancing of the vessel.”

Aside from requiring vessels to be subjected to periodic inspections by MARINA inspectors, Cebu Coast Guard Station Commander Weniel Azcuna said his personnel also inspect sea vessels to find out if the navigational equipments are functioning.

Azcuna said the Coast Guard also conducts random inspection of vessels to find out whether the officials and crew comply with the provisions of the law in line with the Safety of Lives and Properties at Sea (SOLAS).

“The lack of life-saving equipment of a passenger vessel could be a ground already for the suspension of the voyage. The number of life jackets should not be less than the number of authorized passengers of the vessel,” said Azcuña.

Aside from the life jackets, Azcuna said, the shipping officials are also required to have life rings and life rafts that can also accommodate the same number of the vessel’s authorized number of passengers.

He recalled that the 1,517 passengers and crewmembers of RMS Titanic who died when the ship sank in 1912 could have been saved if the vessel had enough number of life rafts.

“Kon nakasakay pa og life raft ang tanang pasahero sa Titanic luwas unta sila kay bisan duna sila’y life jackets apan namatay man sila sa grabe nga kabugnaw sa dagat,” Azcuna explained.

During a vessel’s inspection, the Coast Guard will also see to it that the water pumps are functioning because this will augment the fire extinguishers.

No Ticket, No Boarding Policy

In Cebu City ports, the policy of “No Ticket, No Boarding” is strictly implemented by shipping officials as one way to ensure that only those in the manifest can board the vessels.

But in other ports that do not have terminals, like in Danao City, Hagnaya, Santander and Toledo City, even those who do not have tickets can still board the vessels.

Azcuna explained that the Coast Guard is strict when it comes to allowing passengers only up to the vessel’s capacity to ensure that in the event of an accident, each of the passengers will have his or her own life jacket.

The issue about monetary claims for passengers that are not in the manifest in case of accidents is no longer a problem because MARINA had issued Memorandum Circular 2009-18. The memo provides that the shipping company shoulders the payment for passengers not in the manifest in the event of an accident.

The Coast Guard commander said that based on his observation, many sea accidents were caused by human error, particularly because there are some ship officials who do not know how to read maps.

Azcuña said only last week he had suspended the master mariner of an interisland vessel because he found out that the ship captain already forgot what he had learned in school. “Grabe kaayo, master mariner unya dili kamao mobasa og map,” Azcuña said, adding that the master mariner in question used the channel intended for inbound vessels even if his vessel was going out of the Cebu port.

Azcuña added that there are some ships equipped with sophisticated navigational equipment such as Global Positioning System (GPS) with automatic identification system, but these vessels still encountered accidents like collisions because of human error.

The Need for VTMS

Cokaliong, who owns a fleet of nine vessels plying the islands of the Visayas and Mindanao, suggested that the government should already establish a Vessel Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS) in the port of Cebu.

The VTMS functions like a control tower in airports. The port of Manila and Batangas already have VTMS established by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

Cokaliong, who is an officer of the Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Operators (VAFCO), said he will again ask the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) to establish a VTMS in Cebu City that will control vessel traffic.

The installation of a VTMS may, however, cause minor delays in the departure of vessels, but minor delays are nothing compared to the possibility of an accident.

“Daghang mga barko nga magdungan-dungan pagbiyahe alas siete sa gabii og mag-ilogay lang. Kon dunay VTMS mag-control na sila kon hain ang mouna ug hain ang mosunod and it will help prevent accident,” said Cokaliong.