Salvaging of ship starts

Work started yesterday to contain a posssible oil spill and to remove  the week-old sunken  cargo ship MV B and E Uno in the Mactan Channel.
Salvage work on the  vessel that carried 23,000 bags of cement from Iligan City will take one week,  said Commodore Rolando Punzalan of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

The PCG approved the emergency salvage permit of  Omega Steel and Marine Services, the contractor hired by M/V B & E Uno shipping Corp.
Punzalan said work will take three phases –  siphoning fuel and oil from the vessel to  prevent spillage, retrieval of cargo and lifting the sunken vessel from the sea.

The last phase will need a crane barge and transport to  a shipyard.

The contractor yesterday surveyed the site and laid out plans for the siphoning of fuel and lubricant oil.

Additional spill booms were fielded.

Andy Berame, administrative officer of Lapu-Lapu City’s Task Force Kalikasan (TFK), said they  will be monitoring  the entire process.
The vessel sank around 2 kilometers from Muelle Osmeña wharf where the city’ government’s speed boat used by the Task Force Kalikasan is docked for monitoring purposes.

The ship owner  placed a security guard at the site, stationed in a small boat, after finding out  that the vessel’s anchor and radar antenna were looted.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza wrote Benjamin Go, the ship owner, and demanded that he immediately remove the vessel or face legal action.

The mayor was concerned that it took them some time work for salvaging work to begin.

Earlier the  chiefs of four barangays of  Canjulao, Looc, Babag and Calawisan expressed concern  about the  risk of pollution from the ship’s cargo, and  its fuel supply, would threaten the  livelihood of  fisherfolk.

Fishing activities in these communities range from the traditional capture fishing to aquaculture like the culture of the seaweed locally known as lato.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)  cautioned residents to be careful about eating fish and other marine life  harvested in the seawater  near the ship.

The ship sank in shallow water around 9 p.m. last July 8 while maneuvering to dock in Pier 4 of Cebu City.

All 17 crew members  swam to safety.