Greenpeace: Two Vessels Should Be Made Liable On Oil Spill

A Greenpeace advocate said the two marine vessels, which figured in a sea mishap last week, should also be made liable to the massive oil spill that hit Cebu after the incident.

“The responsibility and accountability of the ship owners, should also extend to their role in the oil spill, as this has serious long term ecological and health hazards,” said Vince Cinches of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

This incident, he observed, “shows how weak policies governing our seas is making our marine environment more vulnerable from various threats including oil spill, and underscores the need to pursue a stronger policy on sea transportation, oil spill and marine protection.”

With this kind of situation, Greenpeace urged the creation of a multi-agency, compose of the Department of Health, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Coast Guard, Marine scientific institutions, Civil society organizations, including fisherfolk organizations to come up with a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment. “It is now important to establish further the accountability of the ship owners,” Cinches said.

Until today massive oil spill was still observed in some coastal areas in Cebu despite clean-ups initiated by the affected localities and the provincial government. The incident was triggered by last Friday’s collision between 2GO’s MV St. Thomas Aquinas and Sulpicio Shipping Lines’ cargo ship. MV St. Thomas Aquinas sank with leaking oil.