Personnel of some inter-island vessels have been reported to be reckless in keeping near passenger areas hazardous cargoes, such as liquefied petroleum gas tanks, some passengers complained.
This prompted city councilor Edgardo Labella to sponsor a resolution urging officials of the Maritime Industry Authority and the Coast Guard to investigate these complaints of passengers of these vessels sailing to various ports in Visayas and Mindanao.
Labella said there were passengers who approached some city officials and raised concerns over the blatant negligence of these vessels on keeping these hazardous cargoes far from the passengers’ decks.
The councilor believed that such practice threatens the lives of the passengers, and this runs counter to the policy of security in marine vessels.
Under the present situation where terrorists continues to threaten national security, the practice of carrying hazardous cargoes in inter-island vessels is a maritime disaster waiting to happen, said Labella.
There have been no reports however that a marine vessel, carrying hazardous cargoes has been used by the terrorist in attacking civilians but Labella said that deterrence now is the best action.
In 1917, a cargo of explosives blew up aboard a ship in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia killing 1,900 people and injuring 4,000 others.
Thirty years later, in 1947, two cargo ships carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur exploded in Texas City destroying the port, killing 600 people on the spot, and injuring 3,500 others. — Rene U. Borromeo/RAE