Ship that destroyed corals in Sarangani towed

REEF DESTROYER. MV Double Prosperity, the Panama-registered bulk carrier that rammed the protected Bakud Reef off Kiamba, Sarangani, was finally towed on Wednesday after more than a month of being stuck there. It is now under the custody of Philippine Coast Guard.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—The Panama-registered bulk carrier that rammed the protected Bakud Reef off Kiamba, Sarangani, was finally towed on Wednesday after more than a month of being stuck there, a provincial official said.

Arnel Zapatos, provincial legal officer, said the MV Double Prosperity was finally refloated past 5 a.m.

He said the vessel is now in the custody of the Philippine Coast Guard.

The 224-meter-long cargo ship—manned mostly by Filipino crewmen—was on its way to India from Australia with about 66,000 tons of coal when it ran aground seven kilometers off the coast of Kiamba on May 8.

During investigation, the crew pointed to human error as the cause of the grounding, which damaged a huge chunk of the Bakud Reef, an important marine sanctuary in Sarangani.

But Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez said he believed the crew was busy watching the Pacquiao-Mosley fight and left the ship on auto pilot when the ship plowed into the reef.

Dominguez said the Coast Guard reported that no one was manning the cockpit of the vessel at that time.

The ship destroyed parts of the reef that marine experts estimated to be worth between P40 million to P60 million.

The ship’s operator hired an independent expert for a separate assessment of the damage. The independent expert, however, confirmed the findings of the team that the Sarangani government had tapped.

In a race to prevent further damage to the reef, the Sarangani government and the Coast Guard agreed to tap the help of a Malaysian towage firm.

But previous attempts to remove the vessel had repeatedly failed even after some of its coal cargo had been unloaded.

Zapatos said the removal of the ship would allow marine experts to now make an inventory of the actual damage that the vessel left on the coral reef.

The vessel, he said, would be kept at the Coast Guard station in Davao City pending the settlement of damage claims.

He said the owner of the vessel had expressed willingness to pay for the damages that the ship wrought on the reef, including expenses for refloating the vessel.

Zapatos said the ship would be allowed to leave the Philippines only after its owner has paid for the damages. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao