Want to buy a used ship? Customs has one for sale

MANILA, Philippines–Stressing the need to raise more revenue, the Bureau of Customs is planning to sell “as soon as possible” a cargo vessel, the MV Captain Ufuk, that has been in its custody since the ship’s 2009 seizure by the government for involvement in arms smuggling in Mariveles, Bataan.

Charo Logarta-Lagamon, BOC Public Information and Assistance Division chief, told the Inquirer they were “seeking clearance from the Department of Finance for the sale of this vessel asap.”

“There’s no schedule yet because any sale must be approved by the DOF,” she added.

In a text message, Lagamon said that after two failed biddings, the BOC was considering a “negotiated sale” of the ship.

The DOF-attached agency, she said, had been spending at least P315,000 a month on maintenance for the 2,450-ton ship.

Last week, the BOC towed the vessel back to its original anchorage on Manila Bay—1.6 nautical miles off Roxas Boulevard—after the strong winds and waves spawned by Tropical Storm “Mario” carried the ship dangerously close to the seawall.

Oil spill

The vessel ended up being only 60 meters away from the protective wall, and the Philippine Coast Guard warned that a crash into it could seriously damage the ship and result in an oil spill.

In August 2009, Philippine authorities seized the Panamanian-registered ship after 54 high-powered rifles worth about P25 million were found on board when it sailed without notice into the Mariveles port, located at the mouth of Manila Bay.

The captain was a South African and the 13 crew men were from Georgia and Jordan.

Assault rifles

The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) said the information it received was that some Filipino politicians had ordered the Indonesian-made Israeli Galil assault rifles from an international gunrunning syndicate as part of preparations for elections.

The CIIS also learned that a yacht had ferried something from the vessel just hours before it was boarded by Coast Guard and customs personnel.

The BOC, meanwhile, was scheduled to conduct Tuesday (Sept. 30) a public auction for some P160-million worth of smuggled rice seized late last year at the Port of Manila.

The sale would also “help decongest the POM,” said Mario Mendoza, district collector at the port, the country’s second largest in terms of volume and capacity.

“We are conducting the auction in accordance with law. It is crucial for us to dispose of forfeited assets to decongest the port of Manila,” he said.

Mendoza said the rice shipments consigned to the trading firms Silent Royalty Marketing and Bold Bidder Marketing arrived at the POM in late 2013.