The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has grounded the entire fleet of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, the owner of MV Asia Malaysia, which sank off Panay Island in Western Visayas.
An order of Marina Administrator Emerson Lorenzo dated August 1 said the company’s fleet, consisting of eight passenger vessels and one cargo vessel, may not operate until government inspectors determine all the vessels’ seaworthiness.
“There will be a hearing on Friday, and the company should explain why its CPC [certificate of public convenience] should not be revoked or suspended,” Marina Deputy Administrator Nicolas Conti said in a telephone interview.
Aside from the sunken vessel MV Asia Malaysia, its other vessels are MV Trans-Asia 2, MV Asia Indonesia, MV Asia Japan, MV Asia Philippines, MV Asia China, MV Trans-Asia, MV Trans-Asia 3, MV Trans-Asia 5 and cargo vessel MV Asia Pacific.
Marina also ordered the suspension of the seaman’s book and qualification certification documents of all the officers and crew members of the Asia Malaysia.
The 2,400-gross ton Asia Malaysia left Cebu on July 30 at 6 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Iloilo at 8 a.m. the following day. At about 6 a.m. of July 31, ship Captain Romualdo Geraldizo ordered an “abandon ship.”
The vessel was not overloaded as there were only 178 people onboard—134 passengers and 44 crew members. The vessel could accommodate 551 people.
The Coast Guard, meanwhile, is keeping a close watch on the sunken vessel and readying measures to prevent its oil slick from damaging the corals near Negros Occidental.
The Coast Guard said the oil slick is already 1 kilometer long; its initial length was only 200 meters.
When it sank on July 31, Asia Malaysia was four nautical miles from Culasi, Iloilo; it is now one nautical mile north of Managla, Negros Occidental, where the corals are located.
Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas has ordered an investigation of Asia Malaysia’s sinking. He met the top officials of the Coast Guard, Marina and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and ordered them to look into the cause of the accident.
The Coast Guard must now convene the Board of Marine Inquiry to implement Roxas’s order.
The DOTC also ordered the creation of a Crisis Management Action Center where all agencies concerned are required to assign a “point-man” to ensure that the needs of the public are addressed during a crisis.
The DOTC agencies were reminded to review their regulations related to ensuring reliable communications between sailing vessels, on the one hand, and the Coast Guard, Marina and PPA, on the other, at all times.
They were also ordered to conduct a study on the best equipment to track down and communicate with a sailing vessel and come up with the most appropriate and technologically updated maritime communication systems.
(With Lenie Lectura)
