15 ships washed ashore slow down recovery of bodies

SHIPS washed ashore in the coastal villages have slowed down retrieval operations in Tacloban City.

What about the dead buried under cargo ships and tugboats that were washed inland when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” whipped up giant waves in Leyte and Eastern Samar provinces?

Heads of government agencies under Task Force Yolanda agree that the unmoved 15 vessels in the coastal communities have been slowing down the recovery of bodies there. The official death toll from the typhoon, however, has been kept at 6,069.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), nine mostly cargo ships, two tugboats and a barge are still stuck in Tacloban City and three other ships in different areas in Guiuan town, Eastern Samar.

Senior Supt. Pablito Cordeta, regional director of the Bureau of Fire Protection and head of Task Force Yolanda’s cadaver collection group, said the presence of the ships had slowed down missions to search for bodies that might still be underneath the debris and the boats.

Lt. Paul Gonzales, PCG Tacloban station commander, said he was still coordinating with ship owners to finalize plans on bringing the vessels back to the sea and away from residential areas.

Insurance companies were still assessing damage following claims of the owners that the equipment to remove the vessels were not yet available, Gonzales said.

“We are hoping that the ship owners will start work on retracting these vessels before the end of this year. Some owners have been sending engineers to assess and determine the materials and equipment needed,” Gonzales said on the  phone on Friday.

The possibility of an oil spill is a factor to consider in the movement of the vessels, he said.

A regional PCG report identified the owner of the two tugboats and a barge on the shore of Tacloban as Vicente Lao Construction, which is based in Davao City.

The cargo ships are  MV Star Hilongos, owned by Roble Shipping Lines Inc. based in Cebu City; MV Jaguar and MV Tomi Elegance, owned by Tacloban Oil Mills in  Tolosa, Leyte; MV Eva Jocelyn of Eva Shipping Lines in Mandaue City; MV Gayle of Unilink Shipping Lines in Mandaue City; MV David of Candano Shipping Lines in Tabaco City, Albay; MV Rosman, owned by Richmond Ng of Quezon City; MV Ligaya-V of Avega Brothers Integrated Shipping Corp., and the MV Eastern Star of Lilygene Shipping Lines Inc.

Still stuck in Guiuan are  MV RKK Uno, MV Lancer and MV Lady of Fatima.