Taking into account
Long after the body count is over and the last drops of bunker fuel are cleared from the waters off Cordova town, more questions will be asked of the captains who steered their ships to collision and caused the deaths of more than 50 persons that fateful Friday evening off Lawis Ledge in Talisay City.
According to their respective marine protests, Capt. Rolito Gilo of the MV Sulpicio Express 7 and Capt. Reynan Bermejo of the MV St. Thomas Aquinas said they tried to contact each other by radio before the collision occurred to no avail.
Gilo in particular said the ferry St. Thomas Aquinas turned direction at the last minute just as they sailed to the right. Bermejo, on the other hand, insisted that he tried to radio their change in course to the Sulpicio Express Siete but the cargo ship didn’t respond.
What happened was a disaster that couldn’t be blamed on the fair weather. The narrow channel in Lawis Ledge should have compelled the two captains to take extra precautions such as establishing contact and coordinating with each other.
If there was a traffic light somewhere in the middle between the two vessels, would this have influenced the captains? A device like that is useless if skippers ignore each other, and insist on their way. If there was such a device, it would have been incontrovertible proof of their failure to communicate.
The lighthouse in Lawis Ledge is supposed to provide direction but last we heard it was not functional.
There were reports that the Philippine Coast Guard was unable to get wind of the collision more than 30 minutes after it happened.
Radio broadcaster Leo Lastimosa recalled that it was Bogo City Mayor “Junie” Martinez who first confirmed news about the collision 15 to 20 minutes ahead of the nearest Coast Guard station. And we’re not even talking about the office of 2G0 nor Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp., formerly known as Sulpicio Lines Inc.
In fact, we could all thank God that the weather and the waters were particularly calm that Friday night or else the search and rescue operations would have been further complicated and most of the survivors would have found themselves at the bottom of the ocean.
Until the Marine Board of Inquiry gets started, all steps must be taken by both shipping companies to ease the pain of the passengers, who by virtue of their purchase of a ticket, a contract of carriage, had the right to be safely conveyed to their port of destination.
One or both companies must shoulder the blame for this avoidable accident. Responsibility lies squarely at the doorsteps of shipping line management who should spare no resources to compensate for the loss of lives and property.
