CEBU CITY—Ships owned by Sulpicio Lines Inc., both cargo and passenger vessels which were grounded following the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars, will sail again depending on the results of the Board of Marine Inquiry.

But Sulpicio’s cargo fleet will sail by next week on orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. On July 2, the Palace gave the company the go-signal to resume cargo services.

“There is a cargo vacuum created by the grounding of the Sulpicio vessels,” Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza told reporters after Wednesday’s closed-door dialogue here between Ms Arroyo and shipowners.

Mendoza said that Ms Arroyo had directed the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to fast-track the re-inspection of eight of the 14 vessels of Sulpicio Lines. The eight vessels had been audited and found to have deficiencies.

Vessels that would pass the re-audit would be allowed to sail by Monday, he said. Mendoza said that Sulpicio Lines had asked that it be allowed to operate eight vessels only to carry cargo.

Mendoza said the grounding of the company’s vessels had affected trading and resulted in undelivered shipments from major cities in Mindanao and elsewhere. He said that this had also prompted an increase in freight rates.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila noted that Manila-based manufacturers had been affected by the shortage in cargo capacity and were incurring losses.

Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista said MARINA’s re-audit of the vessels of Sulpicio Lines would be completed by Thursday.

Depends on BMI report

She said that the possibility of allowing the vessels to carry both passenger and cargo would depend on the outcome of the Board of Marine Inquiry report on the June 21 sinking of the Princess of the Stars.

Bautista said three other shipping companies had agreed to operate additional cargo services to address the capacity shortage—Aboitiz Transport System Corp., Negros Navigation Co. and National Marine Corp.

The President had also directed MARINA to look into the standards on wages for domestic shipping crews, Bautista said.

The Princess of the Stars captain Florencio Marimon, for instance, received a monthly salary of P60,000 but his counterpart abroad received $5,000—about P220,000, she said.

Because of this huge disparity in wages, Bautista said the country had been losing its skilled shipping crew to international vessels.