Marina suspends MV Esperanza Star safety certificate

BLAZE AT SEA A fire breaks out at the entrance of the engine room of MV Esperanza Star while the vessel is on its way to Tagbilaran City Port around 3 a.m. on June 18. All of its 132 crew members and passengers have been rescued. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CEBU CITY — The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has suspended the passenger ship safety certificate of MV Esperanza Star, which caught fire off the coast of Panglao Island in Bohol on June 18.

The ship will not be allowed to sail as authorities conduct parallel investigations to determine the circumstances leading to the sea mishap.

Other vessels owned by Kho Shipping Lines, however, were not barred from their operations.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) launched a Marine Casualty Investigation, which would also probe the incident.

PCG-Central Visayas commander Mark Larsen Mariano said the members of MCI would be composed of coast guard’s naval engineers, architects, and fire experts.

“The team members from national (headquarters) arrived today,” Mariano said in an interview on Monday.

He, however, did not announce a specific timeline as to when the investigation will end but said it has to be done “as soon as possible.”

Mariano said results of the investigation would be submitted to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

Rochyl Villamora, public information officer of Marina-Central Visayas, said they were waiting for the marine protest which would narrate the details of the incident.

Marina, she said, would also interview the ship’s crew members as part of the investigation and look into the safety practices in the vessel.

MV Esperanza Star caught fire at past 3 a.m. on Sunday off Duljo Point on Panglao Island, a few kilometers away from the Tagbilaran City Port, where the ship was supposed to dock.

Initial information from PCG said the fire originated from the engine room of the vessel.

All 65 passengers and 55 crew were rescued and accounted for after the incident.

MV Esperanza Star was towed by tugboats from Tagbilaran City on Sunday and is now at a private shipyard in Danao City, Cebu.

Passengers bound for Cebu City arrived on Monday afternoon via another ferry.

Every family on board the ship received a compensation of P5,000 from Kho Shipping Lines, and P2,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

For solo travelers, they get the full P5,000 and P2,000 assistance.

Kho Shipping Lines, last Sunday, thanked all those who rescued the passengers and crew of the ill-fated ship.

MV Esperanza Star, it said, would be replaced with MV Cataingan this week so as not to hamper the flow of goods and passengers to people of Iligan City and Lazi, Siquijor.

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