For safer sea vessel movement in the busy and narrow Mactan Channel, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has expressed interest in installing a Vessel Traffic Monitoring System.
Representatives from the Jica are in town to study the installation of the Vessel Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS) which would track ships’ movements in the Mactan Channel, a narrow waterway leading to one of the busiest seaports in the country – the port of Cebu.
According to Cmdr. Weniel Azcuna, Cebu station chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Jica technicians are now in the process of identifying sites where the radar towers for the planned VTMS will be constructed. The PCG building near Pier 3 will host the VTMS control panel, Azcuna added.
It is imperative that a VTMS be installed in the Mactan Channel and this need has been underscored by the tragic collision of the passenger vessel MV St. Thomas Aquinas and the cargo vessel Sulpicio Express Siete last August 16 in Lauis Ledge. The sea mishap resulted in the sinking of the MV St. Thomas Aquinas with 116 dead and 21 still missing.
Azcuna told the Cebu City Council yesterday that Jica will be donating the VTMS. The PCG will have to sit down with other government agencies like the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA), Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Philippine Navy to discuss how they could now share the cost of its maintenance and operation. The VTMS will help the PCG control traffic along the Mactan Channel in the north and at Lauis Ledge in the south. The VTMS, Azcuna said, will provide data like speed and location of a vessel.
VTMSs are in operation in the ports of Manila and Batangas, he added.
Azcuna said the VTMS will help the CPA monitor vessel movement at the ports of Cebu and ensure payment of the needed port fees. The system will also aid the Philippine Navy in their surveillance operations. “PCG is now coordinating with Jica to expedite the whole process,” Azcuna told an executive session of the City Council. Others present during the executive session were Capt. Jaybe Chiongson of CPA, Marina regional director Nanette Denopol and Commo. Reynaldo Yoma, commander of the Naval Forces Central. Azcuna told the council that even before the accident Jica’s VTMS proposal was already being considered.