Ship owner raps Coast Guard

The owner of the ship which has been grounded for over three years now accused the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) of defying its own rules and regulations by refusing to renew a certificate of inspection (CI) despite its approval by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).

At the same time the Pheschem Industrial Corp. scored the tanker sector of the local shipping industry for misleading the public over baseless allegations that the MV Golden Swan is not safe enough to carry hazardous chemicals and thus poses a threat to the environment.

Pheschem president and Golden Swan owner Tomas Tan said the seven-man technical team convened by Marina had resolved that the Golden Swan can safety carry liquid/liquefied ammonia in bulk in its existing pressurized bullet tanks, even together with other general cargoes.

Despite the official approval by Marina Administrator Oscar Sevilla, the Marina board had tasked the technical team to resolve the issue of whether the MV Golden Swan is secure enough to carry hazardous chemicals such as ammonia in bulk, an allegation reportedly being peddled by a group of tanker operators.

Tan said the Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport Association (Philpesta) is a mere interloper in the issues involving the Golden Swan. "An application for issuance of a vessel’s CI is not an adversarial proceeding. There is no such thing as oppositor in such an application," Tan said.

The procedure is simply to file an application, submit the required documents and a CI is issued, he added.

Tan is appealing to Marina and the PCG to perform their duties and responsibilities in accordance with the existing maritime rules and regulations, and not be cowed and intimated by Philpesta’s threat of graft charges. "It’s about time for the rule of law to prevail," Tan stressed.