Vessel limps to Cebu port on one engine

THE Cebu Coast Guard will issue a maritime violation to the 830 tonner MV Calbayog of Palacio Shipping Inc. for failure to inform their office about their malfunctioning engine which delayed their arrival at the Cebu port by four hours yesterday.

Cebu Coast Guard Chief Commander Rolando Lizor Punzalan said the ship left Calbayog port at 8:30 p.m last Saturday and expected to arrive in Cebu City port at 8 a.m yesterday. Instead they reached the Cebu City port at 12 noon.

“Most of the accidents that happened recently, we were only informed when the situation was too hard to handle and they already had a hard time to recover,” Punzalan told Cebu Daily News.

Punzalan said they learned what happened to MV Calbayog from another source.

MV Calabayog Captain Theopanis Ganzon refused to comment on the incident.

His chief mate Sabas Sumagang said the ship’s propeller got caught in some fishing nets.

The entangled propeller caused the slinger of one of the engines to break down, causing the ship to run on one engine.

“We did not take the chance and decided to just turn the engine off and sail on one engine even if it means that we would be delayed.” Sumagang said.

He said they gave the passengers free breakfast and lunch due to the delay.

As the ship reached the vicinity of Danao City, they called for a tug boat at the Cebu Port to help them with the docking.

“We were about to submit the report to the Coast Guard when we docked,” Sumagang said.

All 112 passengers and 42 crew were all accounted for. Correspondent Edison delos Angeles