Foreign ship destroys corals, Chinese captain is arrested

CEBU, Philippines - Police arrested yesterday the captain of a foreign cargo ship that ran aground in a marine protected area in Talisay City and in the process destroyed some corals. 

P/Supt. Henry Binas said Chen Guang Ming, the Chinese ship captain of the M/V United Majuro, is being held for violating City Ordinance 2006-04 regulating activities at the Lagundi Reef, the city’s three-hectare marine protected area.

Under the city law, the maximum penalty for coral damage is P5,000. According to Binas, after Chen has paid the amount, he shall then be set free, unless he has violated national laws.

City Councilor Shirley Belleza is saddened by the news, and the fact that the ship captain can easily get away with the crime by paying a maximum penalty of P5,000 only.

“Og P5,000 ra, kuwang ra na sa pan,” said Belleza.

She however said that she has already consulted the Department of Environment of Natural Resources for other possible sanctions that can be imposed on Chen.

“I feel like somebody died,” said Belleza.

The lady councilor explained that for the last three years, they worked so hard with their regular fish feeding project at the reef only to see it smashed by a “negligent” ship captain at the snap of a finger.

With the incident, Belleza, who was one of those responsible for rehabilitating the once destroyed Lagundi Reef being the chairman on council committee on Tourism, said that she is now bound to make revisions of the penalty clause of City Ordinance 2006-04, which she authored.

She explained that when they made the law, they only foresaw minor damages to corals by divers.

She assured that with this incident, she would up the penalty probably based on every coral destroyed.

The Lagundi Reef, she said, was supposed to be re-opened for diving on March 25, a day before the city commemorates the 64th Landing Anniversary of the American forces.

However, with the situation, Belleza said she will have to alter the plan, especially if many corals have been damaged. Yesterday, divers were already sent to assess the damage.

 Diver Anthony Nator, in a separate interview, said the ship hit almost half of the entire reef, especially the part 20 feet deep where more live table-sized corals abound.

According to Chief Petty Officer Virgilio Tibayan of the Philippine Coast Guard-Cebu City station, the M/V United Majuro, a bulk carrier, had just unloaded its cargo at the Cebu International Port before proceeding to the Talisay City municipal waters at 9:30 a.m. for anchorage, when it accidentally ran aground.

The ship’s home port is Majuro, the capital city of the Republic of Marshall Islands.

He said the ship, with a 25-man crew including the captain, was no longer running and was already lowering its anchor when it hit the ground. The ship was allegedly not experiencing any problems, or having outdated maps or whatnot.

It was supposed to stay there to wait for instructions from its mother unit in Athens, Greece, before going to its next destination, in Indonesia.

M/V United Majuro is owned and operated by Kamtchuka International.

As of 12:10 p.m. yesterday, it was already unloading its ballast tanks.

Meanwhile, Binas, who is also a practicing lawyer, said that there could be other civil cases that could be filed against Chen, where he could be meted with higher penalties.

In 2005, environmental group Greenpeace was fined almost $7,000 for damaging a coral reef at Tubbataha Reef Marine Park when its flagship Rainbow Warrior II ran aground at the world heritage site. - THE FREEMAN