|
Executives of Sulpicio Lines Inc., which owns the MV Princess of the
Stars, on Wednesday blamed government for the sinking of its ferry
over the weekend.
In turn, Coast Guard officials, already under
pressure for allowing the ferry to sail at the onset of a typhoon,
blamed the shipping line.
As they traded accusations, rescuers
extinguished slim hopes of finding survivors in the stricken vessel.
“There are no signs of life,” Navy spokesman
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said also on Wednesday. Rescuers said anyone
who had managed to find air pockets in the ship would have
suffocated by now.
The Coast Guard said the official death toll was
70, while 57 survivors have been rescued. The Princess was carrying
about 862 people.
Arthur Lim, the Sulpicio Lines lawyer, claimed
before the Board of Marine inquiry that the Coast Guard had failed
to plot routes for ships during bad weather as called for by a
memorandum issued in 1998.
Real Adm. Ramon Liwag of the Coast Guard, the
head of the board that is conducting the probe, refuted Lim’s
allegation. He said the 1998 memorandum had been revised and
replaced by another memorandum that was released in June 2007. The
new guidelines as read by the clerk of the panel said full
responsibility is given to a ship owner and the captain to chart
courses under bad weather.
Edgar Go, an engineer and the vice-president of
Sulpicio Lines, told the board of “sudden bad weather
conditions” during the ship’s journey from Manila to Cebu. It
sank on June 21, a day after it left port, off Sibuyan Island in
Romblon province.
The ship’s captain, engineer and safety
officer, who also had been summoned by the board to the inquiry, did
not show up.
Go also told the panel that the last contact
between the captain, Florencio Marimon, and the Sulpicio Lines
office in Cebu was “cut off” around 11:30 a.m. of June 21.
Marimon’s earlier messages were that the ship’s “engine was
running well” and that the boat was “listing heavily.”
Go said conditions at sea were light when the
Princess departed Manila. During the voyage, though, he added,
Marimon sent a message saying sea conditions were moderate to rough.
Go did not say when the message was sent.
According to the Sulpicio official, the company
acquired Princess of the Stars from Japan in 2001. He said he could
not recall the vessel’s capacity back then, but that its interior
and facilities were modified and upgraded. Go added that the sunken
ship belonged to a fleet of more than 20 passenger and cargo
vessels.
The Board of Marine Inquiry was convened Monday
by the Department of Transportation and Communications in a bid to
determine liability for the incident.
No deadline was given for the board to complete
its probe, but Liwag said they will submit a report to the
department in the next 15 to 20 days.
The Coast Guard spokesman, Lt. Commander Armand
Balilo, said details gathered from the probe could be used for a
criminal prosecution if needed.
GMA talks tough
President Gloria Arroyo assured that the
government “will hold people accountable” for the sinking of a
ferry “if that is what the findings reveal.” She was referring
to facts that a board of investigators aims to gather on the
incident that left a few dozen survivors and apparently hundreds of
others dead.
‘’Like many Filipinos, I am deeply saddened
by the loss of lives from the typhoon and the ferry tragedy,’’
President Arroyo said Wednesday, this time referring to tropical
storm Frank that killed also hundreds and destroyed crops worth
billions and to the sinking of the Princess.
‘’I am also angry at what happened with the
capsizing of the ferry, even as we run a thorough investigation to
find out exactly what happened, why it happened, and how it could
have been avoided,’’ she added.
Recovery effort
Off Sibuyan Island, more than 100 American and
Filipino divers combed the wreckage of the 23,000-ton Princess of
the Stars, whose upturned bow remained jutting above waters after it
capsized in a typhoon last week.
Only 57 persons survived the tragedy, according
to civil defense office figures, making it one of the worst maritime
disasters in Philippine history.
The American divers have joined the grim search
for bloated bodies of men, women and children who were on the
22-hour trip when Typhoon Frank struck.
With poor visibility and strong undercurrents
hampering search and rescue, officials appealed for more equipment
from abroad as well as relief goods for survivors of the typhoon,
which left another 600 dead or missing across the country.
International support
Mrs. Arroyo, who is in Washington for an
official visit, secured a pledge from US counterpart George W. Bush
to send an aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, and other naval
assets to help with the relief efforts. (See related story A2.)
Besides the US government’s pledge to donate
$100,000, President Arroyo said the governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle,
has pledged to send the National Guards stationed in the state to
help in retrieval operations.
Spain also offered to help in search and rescue
efforts, she added.
Grieving relatives continued to stream to
Sulpicio Lines demanding to know the fate of their loved ones.
Many are inconsolable, but there have also been
tearful reunions for the lucky few who survived the tragedy.
Vice President Noli de Castro urged Sulpicio
Lines to immediately put up crisis centers in Manila and Cebu to
attend to the needs of the families of the victims and the
survivors.
He said “old and dilapidated vessels will
always [make the Philippines] prone to maritime accidents.”
-- Anthony Vargas, Angelo S. Samonte, Katrice R. Jalbuena and AFP
|
