‘Call to ‘abandon ship’ came 10 minutes after collision’

It was the turn of survivors of Cebu’s Aug. 16 sea mishap to speak yesterday.

Some passengers and crew of the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas of 2GO Group appeared before the Special Board of Marine Inquiry in the second day of hearings in Cebu City.

PO2 Joseph Austria, sea marshal from the Philippine Coast Guard, said he heard the captain’s order to “abandon ship” about ten minutes after the impact of collision with the cargo vessel MV Sulpicio Express Siete.

Two sea marshals, six crew members and six survivors gave their accounts of what they saw and heard on the night of Aug. 16 when the vessels collided less than 3 nautical miles from the port of Cebu City.

Austria said he heard a rumbling sound three times but didn’t realize until later  that the ship was already slammed by the cargo vessel. Two to three minutes after impact, the lights went off and passengers began to panic, he said.

“Wag magtulakan. Huwag magpanic. Magtulungan tayo para makaligtas,” Austria recalled shouting at passengers as he stood between the entrance of the tourist and economy section.

He said that he heard the captain’s order to abandon ship through the hand held radio of a security official beside him.

S1 Richard Pestillos, a Philippine Navy sea marshal, said after the collision, he helped crew members release life rafts.  It was his first time to experience a sinking.

He said the vessel started to tilted on its left. He helped passengers grab life jackets and advised others to stay on the right side to balance the vessel but as the ship started to sink, people jumped into the sea.

“Ginawa ko lang ‘yung part ko as isa sa mag sea marshal (I did my part as a sea marshal),” Pestillos told the SBMI.

EMERGENCY ALARM

Six crew members were grilled about their response in the disaster.

Warlito Canillo, third officer on duty, said that before the collision he was the one who sent a radio message to the cargo vessel but got no response.

“I called several times but they (Sulpicio) did not answer the call,” said Canillo.  He said he was with the captain at the time but upon impact, he ran to the  cabin of  his officers to tell them and apprentices to prepare life rafts.

The board questioned Canillo’s actions without the captain’s order and why he was able  to get hold of the Closest Point of Approach (CPA) when they were able to spot the outbound cargo vessel in the inbound lane.

The CPA determines the point needed  to acquire distance between two vessels to evaluate the risk of collision.

Canillo said he pressed the emergency alarm but most of the crew members who were questioned said they didn’t hear an alarm.

“If someone pushed the alarm, then everybody should have heard it,” said MARINA investigator Arnie Santiago.

Two deck cadets or “apprentices” and two engineers on duty said they didn’t hear any alarm.

EMERGENCY DRILL

Canillo also said emergency drills for fire, safety, first aid and “abandon ship” protocol were conducted weekly but other crew members couldn’t recall the last time one was conducted.

Several couldn’t answer when the board asked them their exact positions during the collision.

“Nagdidrill kayo pero hindi ninyo alam ang position ninyo, (You are conducting drills but you don’t even know your positions),” Santiago remarked in disbelief.

SBMI chairman Commodore Gilbert Rueras of PCG advised two apprentices who testified: “Gamitin ninyo ang experience na ito kapag opisyal na kayo. Wag mong ibangga ang barko mo. Huwag mo ding ipabangga.”