PH court junks case vs foreign ship in Mindoro collision
BATANGAS CITY, Batangas, Philippines — A local court dismissed the charges filed against the Chinese crew of the MV Vienna Wood after the owner of the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier paid the families of the 14 Filipino fishermen, who presumably died in the sea collision in Occidental Mindoro province in June.
Commodore Tito Alvin Andal, district commander of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Southern Tagalog, said the cargo vessel was allowed to leave the anchorage bay in this city on Saturday, where the carrier and its 20 crew members were held by Philippine authorities for more than two months.
The ship was bound for Samarinda, Indonesia, based on its “next port of call,” Andal said on Monday.
Settlement
Andal said his office was not privy to the amount Nomikos Transworld Maritime paid the families of the 12 crew members and two passengers of fishing boat Liberty 5 that went missing after it sank off Mamburao town on June 27.
But in August, the PCG said the foreign company was willing to pay each family P1 million and compensate the boat operator, Irma Fishing and Trading Inc., P40 million in damages.
The settlement, sealed “about two weeks ago,” led the Mamburao Regional Trial Court to dismiss the case of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and damage to property filed by the families, mostly from Palawan province.
In a separate telephone interview on Monday, Arnold Naval, counsel for Irma Fishing and for the victims, said they agreed to keep the amount “confidential.”
“But it’s satisfactory to all parties, more especially to the families [of the fishermen],” he said.
Naval said the dismissal of the case also led to the lifting of the hold departure order which the court and the Bureau of Immigration earlier issued against the foreign crew.
The PCG filed a separate complaint at the Mindoro court against the carrier, which was empty when it left Subic Bay in Zambales province before the collision.
“But considering [the settlement], [the PCG’s] case will not prosper [anymore, too],” Andal said.
PCG investigators said the collision occurred during “rough seas.” While the ship captain, Zhang Weiwei, sent a distress call hours later, the foreign crew failed to deploy lifeboats to the Filipino fishermen and relied only on other vessels in the area to respond.
