LEGAZPI CITY—The Vietnamese shipping company ANH TV Shipping has averted a court battle with the city government of Legazpi by deciding to pay the P4 million that the city is demanding for the destruction caused by its cargo vessel on Denson Reef along Albay Gulf.
The settlement, made in a form of a check, was issued by Pandiman Philippines Inc. represented by Alvin Banta, the Philippine agent of ANH TV Shipping, on Thursday and handed to the city treasurer’s office, according to city legal officer Marietta Belgica.
Belgica said city officials felt relieved that the issue involving the destruction of Denson Reef was settled out of court.
The payment was made a day after Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal directed the city legal office to file a damage suit against the shipping company after initially failing to get ANH TV Shipping to agree to pay P4 million.
The Vietnamese shipping firm, which is based in Hai-Pong, Vietnam, initially offered to pay P2 million and later raised the settlement offer to P3 million. The City Hall, however, insisted on getting P4 million, representing the P1 million estimated cost of the damage and the P3 million needed to rehabilitate the coral reef destroyed by the cargo vessel MV Ocean 3 when it ran aground on Pulang Buya or Denson Reef on June 15 and plowed through some 1,200 square meters of coral reef.
Denson Reef, a 3-hectare coral reef some 4 kilometers from the port of Legazpi, is a marine conservation area being maintained by the city government.
“Of course we are very happy… Their move to pay us is a clear indication of sincerity and they have recognized the fact that they’ve inflicted damage (to Denson Reef),” said Belgica on Friday.
She said the money would be used to repair the damage wrought by MV Ocean 3 on Denson Reef, which is also being preserved as a fishing ground for local fishermen who use hook-and-line fishing method.
An inspection report prepared by the city’s Integrated Coastal Resource Management unit and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Bicol said it would take at least five years to rehabilitate Denson Reef.
Maximo Paraiso, of the Philippine Coast Guard district in Bicol, said the vessel was allowed to depart close to midnight on Thursday after it presented all the necessary documents, particularly its sea worthiness certificate, as required by the Coast Guard office.
MV Ocean 3 and its 21 all-Vietnamese crew had been held at the city’s port area following the incident. The vessel came to Legazpi to unload a cargo of Vietnamese rice and had just left the port when it plowed through the coral reef.
Prior to the payment of P4 million by the Vietnamese shipping company, legal officer Belgica has filed the case for compensation at the Albay Regional Trial Court. Along with the case was filed a petition for preliminary attachment that would have prevented MV Ocean 3 from leaving Legazpi City.
The Vietnamese cargo ship had been on “ship arrest.”
Paraiso, Coast Guard-Legazpi quarter master, said initial investigation by the Coast Guard point to “navigational error” that brought the ship off course into the coral reef area.