St. Thomas Aquinas captain insists: We were on the right lane

THE MV St. Thomas Aquinas was on the right nautical lane and altered course due to shallow waters, the vessel’s captain said in his testimony to the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) last Aug. 23.

In a press statement, the management of  2GO Shipping said the vessel’s captain, Reynan Bermejo, presented a signed affidavit to the SBMI recounting the events prior to and during the Aug. 16 collision with Sulpicio Express Siete near Lauis Ledge off Talisay City.

Bermejo was asked by the SBMI to plot his vessel’s path from entering Lauis Ledge to the point of impact.

Bermejo said he repeatedly  tried, but failed to contact the Sulpicio Express Siete vessel at Channel 16, the radio frequency used by ships to communicate with each other.

Bermejo said only radar contact was made with the approaching cargo vessel and he changed course after receiving no response from the cargo ship’s captain, Capt. Rolito Gilo.

Bermejo said his vessel was inbound or headed to the Cebu City port, while the Sulpicio Express Siete was heading out. He added  the collision occurred in the inbound lane of the traffic separation scheme (TSS).

He reiterated that the MV Thomas Aquinas was in the correct lane as intended and added that he took evasive actions by ordering the vessel to go hard port or fully turn to the left.

Bermejo said the vessel could not turn right as it would be pushed to shallow waters.

On turning left, Bermejo said he quickly maneuvered to the right only to see Sulpicio Express Siete also turning right resulting in the collision.

Bermejo said the St. Thomas Aquinas was running at 16 knots and decelerated to 15 knots after he ordered his crew to go on stand-by.

When asked why the passenger vessel didn’t stop at four minutes before collision, Bermejo said the ship had a fixed propeller and it would take the ship eight minutes to stop.  He said he saw that the Sulpicio Express Siete was occupying the inbound lane as indicated on the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (Arpa).  The Arpa serves as a navigation guide for ships to plot courses and help determine proximity to other ships and shorelines.