PCG on the track of oil tanker in boat ramming

JUSTICE Relatives, friends and neighbors cry out for justice as they attend the burial of three fishermen in Subic, Zambales, on Oct. 8. The local fishers were killed when an oil tanker rammed
their boat off Pangasinan on Oct. 2. —ANSBERT JOAQUIN

While the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has yet to categorically say that it was a Marshall Islands-registered crude oil tanker that hit a Filipino fishing boat off Pangasinan early this month, it has started tracking its location in real time as the Senate investigation of the maritime accident continues.

On Thursday, Vice Adm. Joseph Coyme, commander of the PCG’s maritime safety services command, told senators that MT Pacific Anna, a 110,000-ton, 250-meter tanker owned by shipping firm Sinokor, was the “highly probable vessel of interest” after its course was plotted to be the ship nearest to FB Dearyn at the time of the collision early morning on Oct. 2.

The accident, which killed three Filipino fishermen, happened in the West Philippine Sea, about 190 nautical miles (about 350 kilometers) off Agno town in Pangasinan, the PCG said.

Coyme said the PCG used cross-referencing of maritime traffic data and “sea vision” to single out Pacific Anna.

“We have used this maritime traffic application that tracked the movement of vessels globally [through] historical data on the movement of vessels. As you can see, Pacific Anna really passed [by the] location of FB Dearyn … around 4:42 a.m.,” he said.

For DFA action

Citing maritime data, Coyme said MT Pacific Anna left Incheon in South Korea on Sept. 28 and arrived at the Port of Keppel in Singapore on Oct. 5.

From there, it proceeded to Sungai Linggi port in Malaysia on Oct. 8 and was located at Kidurong port in Myanmar on Wednesday. It was last located at a Malaysian port.

“What is important is that we are now able to track down the location of this vessel in real time,” Coyme said.

He said investigators gave credence to the testimony of Johnny Manlolo, one of the survivors on FB Dearyn, that the vessel left scuff marks on their boat’s wooden hull of red paint—same as that of MT Pacific Anna.

Coyme said the PCG has submitted its fact-finding report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for a possible diplomatic action to go after the owners of the vessel.

Immediate relief

But just as government agencies worked on the legal processes in exacting accountability for the collision, three senators appealed to the government and the foreign shipping firm to provide immediate relief to the families of the victims and survivors.

Senators Francis Tolentino, Aquilino Pimentel III and Robinhood Padilla were dismayed over what they described as sluggish action of the government to extend immediate financial aid to survivors.

“So what I am saying is how can the agencies of government render prompt justice to the families of these survivors? You have here in front of you one of the widows with her orphaned child; let’s not wait for years to pass that we have to go through [the legal processes] that you have been citing,” said Tolentino, chair of the Senate special committee on Philippine maritime and admiralty zones.

He was appalled that the Department of Justice, PCG, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Philippine National Police cited the legal processes that they had to follow, which included resolving the question on which international laws would govern the case.

“Doesn’t your heart bleed for these fishermen that they spent one week in the high seas but ended up with three of their coworkers dead?” asked Tolentino.

He also chided the Marina for supposedly making it hard for Filipino fishermen to secure fishing permits, that those accosted without permits even had to suffer the seizure of their catch.

Tolentino’s remark was based on the testimony of Michael An, one of FB Dearyn’s 11 survivors, that fishermen struggle to register their boats supposedly because they cannot go to the Marina central office in Manila.

“Why don’t you go to the fisherfolk? You make life difficult for our fishermen now that we are having a shortage of fish and have to resort to importation,” he said.

Appeal to ally

Pimentel, the Senate minority leader, also appealed to the government of the Marshall Islands to extend financial aid to the families of the survivors.

“We’re making this appeal to our friend, neighbor and ally in the Indo-Pacific region [the Republic of Marshall Islands] not to prolong this process of compensating those damaged given that we already have these pieces of evidence that point to those who may be held liable,” he said.

READ: Marcos vows justice for 3 killed in WPS boat ramming

He hinted that the matter could be resolved amicably between the parties, as the tragedy appears to have been a maritime accident.

“Do we really need to go through the filing of cases? Since we already have these pieces of evidence, can we not, as good neighbors and brother-nations in the Indo-Pacific area, compromise everything?” he said.

Padilla also supported the possibility of settling the issue amicably, as he prodded the government to speed up the process of compensating the victims.

“I want to suggest to the government and to our visitors that for humanitarian purposes, we could consider giving them early compensation because these are very poor fishermen. I hope we could consider giving them compensation right away,” he said.