‘Ships didn’t ask for pilot’s aid’

All ships entering and leaving the Mactan Channel are required to seek a marine pilot’s assistance to navigate the area.

But this rule of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) isn’t followed by several domestic ships that pass through the channel, said Capt. Carlos Moralde of the Metro Cebu Harbor Pilots Inc.

Moralde’s explanation along with the account of a Trans Asia 9 passenger that the vessel he rode was 200 meters away from the collision of two other ships surfaced in Day 5 of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry looking into the Aug. 16 sea mishap.

Moralde told the SBMI only three to four ships that pass the Mactan Channel everyday seek their assistance.

“Those who fail to comply with this rule are mandated to pay a P50,000 fine to the CPA. But how would we know if they comply with this rule if they don’t contact us. No one has been penalized,” he said.

Moralde, whose office is based at Pier 1 in Cebu City, said an official of MV St. Thomas Aquinas sought pilotage at noontime last Aug. 16 or eight hours before the ship collided with Sulpicio Express Siete.

He said he was waiting to board the St. Thomas Aquinas vessel at 9 p.m. at Lawis Ledge to act as its guide.

But before he reached Lawis Ledge, Moralde heard a distress call from the Philippine Coast Guard.

Like most domestic ships that traverse the Mactan Channel, Moralde said Sulpicio Expess Siete didn’t request for pilotage.

Moralde said they have 10 marine pilots that assist sea vessels that request for guidance in entering and exiting the Mactan Channel.

Later, a Trans Asia 9 passenger, 25-year-old human resource official Vic Irvin Conde, said he saw the collision between MV St. Thomas Aquinas and Sulpicio Express Siete.

“I came here because I was bothered by what I read in the papers because it was different from what I saw,” he said.

Conde said MV Trans Asia 9 was 200 meters away from both vessels and that the collision occured close to the lighthouse in Lawis Ledge.

He submitted a printed copy of his account which he e-mailed to the Phillipine Coast Guard-Cebu station /Reporters Ador Vincent Mayol and Joy Cherry S. Quito