Gov’t urged to install devices to aid in safe sea navigation

Install devices that will facilitate sea traffic.

This was the appeal of former president of the Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators Chester Cokaliong to concerned government agencies following the recent collision of two vessels along the channel leading to Cebu port that claimed several lives.

In his speech last Tuesday at the National Forum on Safety of Domestic Ferries held at the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) in Manila, Cokaliong said that while it is the responsibility of every shipping company to ensure the safety of their passengers, there are certain infrastructure that will have to be setup by concerned government agencies in the ports to aid the vessels.

Cokaliong said there is a need to install a Vessel Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS) or a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) along the channels leading to the Cebu port.

“The channel towards the Port of Cebu truly has a heavy maritime traffic owing to the fact that most shipping companies in the country are based in Cebu. We believe that the installation of a Vessel Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS) or a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), which is similar to an air traffic control for aircraft, is critical to aid the crew in safe navigation in the Cebu channel,” he said.

He said that the vessel traffic service could use radar, closed-circuit television (CCTV), VHF radiotelephony, and automatic identification system to keep track of vessel movements and provide navigational safety in the area. Thus, improving safety and efficiency of navigation.

Cokaliong, founder and president of Cokaliong Shipping Lines, Inc., pointed out the absence of infrastructure, which made navigating inconvenient for their crew. These include the absence or inoperational lighthouses in areas like Manguino-o, Calbayog, Palompon, Maasin and Capitancillo Island in Bogo, Cebu.

He also cited non-functional or missing aids to navigation like the absence of lighted buoys in the entrance of the Port of Ozamis, the Lipata Bank or Lauis Ledge near Talisay, Cebu where the recent sea tragedy happened. There are no lighted buoys also within a nautical mile northeast of Bantolinao Point in Cebu, and at the entrance of the Port of Palompon, Leyte.

He said the absence of these aids to navigation poses a lot of risk to vessels passing through these ports.

Responsbility

The recent tragedy at Lauis Ledge, which claimed 114 lives and left 23 missing, underscored the need to refer back to the Preamble of the International Safety Management (ISM), he said.

“One thing that should stick in our mind as ship operators is the last premise in the Preamble of the ISM Code which emphasizes that the top management should be committed to good safety management. Thus, ‘the cornerstone of good safety management is commitment from the top. In matters of safety and pollution prevention, it is the commitment, competence, attitudes, and motivation of individuals at all levels that determine the end result,” he said.

Recognizing responsibility, Cokaliong said that in his company, the commitment to safety really starts from the top—with him going to the port in the evening to ensure that his vessels have departed safely and then coming back early in the morning to check if his vessels have arrived safely.

He said he also closely monitors his ships while traveling to their destination.

Cokaliong has nine vessels to date serving 13 ports of call, namely, Cebu, Calbayog, Dapitan, Dumaguete, Iligan, Iloilo, Jagna, Maasin, Nasipit, Ozamis, Palompon, Surigao, and Tagbilaran.