MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard Wednesday formed an investigating board to look into the liabilities of the owners of SuperFerry 9, which capsized off the coast of Zamboanga del Norte on Sunday leaving 10 passengers dead.

Coast Guard chief Wilfredo Tamayo directed the new Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) to determine the cause of the accident and present recommendations to avoid similar tragedies in the future.

Designated head of the eight-member panel was Rear Admiral Alejandro Flora, the Coast Guard deputy chief for administration.

Flora, who presided over the panel’s first organizational meeting Wednesday, said the board agreed to finish the inquiry in one month or by Oct. 9.

The formal investigation will begin on Monday, he said in a news briefing.

Suspended

The operations of all vessels of the Aboitiz Transport System (ATS), owner of the ill-fated ferry, have been suspended. Maritime transportation officials warned the company to stop selling tickets.

Flora said they would immediately send summonses to the crew members and survivors of the ill-fated ship for the panel’s preliminary hearing on Friday.

According to Flora, the committee will hold separate public hearings in Manila, Iloilo and Gen. Santos City to gather testimonies from the rescued passengers of the sunken sea vessel.

“All shipboard officers of the ferry will be required to attend the hearings,” he said.

Business concerns

Business leaders in Cebu have raised concerns over a shortage in interisland cargo shipping since the suspension of the entire fleet of ATS.

“Who will serve the sea commuting public?” asked Jose Ng, vice president for the Visayas of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

He noted that the government has yet to completely lift its suspension on the vessels of Sulpicio Lines, whose Princess of the Stars sank during a storm off Romblon province last year, leaving almost a thousand dead.

Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Samuel Chioson said he was worried about the impact of this latest incident on Cebu’s economy, particularly its export sector which uses Manila as its transshipment point for raw materials and finished goods.

“It will surely affect Cebu because Aboitiz controls 35 to 40 percent of (the shipping) market and Cebu is the hub for Visayas and Mindanao,” said Chioson.

Cebuano businesses are now building stocks for the Christmas season and lack of shipping facilities could create big problems, said businessmen Roberto Go, a former governor of PCCI-Central Visayas. Delays in cargo deliveries mean lost sales. Business is still bad and it might become worse, added Go.

Meanwhile, Australia has warned its citizens against traveling on interisland ferries in the Philippines, saying sea travel in the archipelago was “hazardous.”

The Philippine Coast Guard chief said the advisory was “unfair.” Tamayo insisted that sea travel in the country remained safe.