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A STRONG
typhoon and breakdown of monitoring equipment at the
port of Manila and Corregidor Island in Bataan have
marred the first year of operation of the government’s
vessel- traffic monitoring system (VTMS).
The
system aims to provide navigational services to all
ships coursing to the country’s busiest ports.
In a
report, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said its
VTMS operations encountered several incidents of
downtime in July, August and December last year, which
impaired its aim to monitor all vessels plying Manila
Bay and adjacent ports.
“The
downtime was mainly due to mechanical defects of various
equipment and generators, as well as bad weather and
thunderstorms affecting the operation of the radar
transceiver and VHF radio,” the PPA said in the report.
The port
authority blamed in part equipment supplier Japan Radio
Co. Ltd. for shipping a defective backup transceiver,
which caused the downtime in August and October.
In
December, the PPA said generator No. 1 in
Bataan “suddenly stopped,” which rendered the radar half
operational and only at night since there is only one
power supply available.
“PPA is
closely coordinating with the supplier…for the necessary
repair,” the PPA said in the report.
The PPA
also blamed Super-typhoon Milenyo, which devastated the
capital and other parts of the country in September
2006, and which also caused the downtime of the VTMS.
Despite
the setbacks, the port authority said it managed to
monitor some 11,000 vessels, most of which were domestic
ships that plied Manila Bay and its tributaries.
“Timely
response of other government agencies on incidents
involving marine vessels was facilitated with the
information generated through VTMS,” the PPA said.
Among
the emergency incidents the PPA was able to log in 2007
were a fire the broke out onboard vessel Catalyn D;
medical assistance for the injured crew of MV Lian Hua
Hai; navigational advisory to MV Velazquez calling on
the Port of Manila without a Manila nautical chart; as
well as piracy incidents involving such vessels as the
MV Bay Bridge, TB Salvage Challenger, Barge Tenyu and MV
Mercury Cloud.
In 2005
the PPA started the P194-million VTMS project in the
port of Manila. Its actual operation, however, started
in July 2006 as the lack of skilled people to man the
system 24 hours a day plagued the project.
Also,
the PPA division responsible for the operation of the
new system was hit by a series of resignations while
other employees were reassigned to other offices.
Weeks
after the VTMS operations went into full swing,
lightning struck one of its radars in Corregidor Island.
The VTMS
was put in place in compliance with the International
Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The
Manila system has
three radar stations—at the Manila International
Container Terminal, at the adjacent Isla Puting Bato and
at the highest point in Corregidor.
The
system was designed to facilitate route planning, early
warning against risks of accidents and detection of
hazardous chemicals by monitoring vessels in the Manila
Bay area and the approach to Bataan. |
