Board of Marine Inquiry summons captain of sunken ferry

The Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) has summoned the captain and owner of the sunken MV Blue Water Princess at the start of the formal investigation on the incident yesterday.

Philippine Coast Guard Southern Tagalog District Commander Capt. Rodolfo Isonera, head of the nine-man panel, said they have set the first hearing on July 25 to be held at the BMI office in Port Area, Manila.

“We are specifically tasked to determine the cause of the incident and also identify those who could be held liable for the tragedy. But ultimately, we want to come up with recommendations in order to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Isonera said.

Apart from Isonera, the BMI panel also includes Commodore Benjamin Mata, Capt. Ferdinand Velaso, PCG Batangas Chief Engr. Diosdado Ramos, Lt. Cdr. Ramon Reblora, Lt. JG Alfredo Bautista, Ensign Janice Camins, and secretariat officers Helen Lucas and Meriam Amerilla.

PCG Commandant Damian Carlos earlier ordered BMI to speed up its investigation on the sinking of MV Blue Water Princess and directed the panel to submit its report not later than the third week of August.

BMI members convened yesterday and started consolidating information and testimonies gathered on the sinking of the passenger cargo ferry that left 11 people dead.

The MV Blue Water Princess, owned by AC-Joy Express Liner and operated by Blue Magic Ferries, sank off Quezon province last July 12.

The roll-on, roll-off ferry reportedly left Lucena on Wednesday afternoon en route to Masbate, but ran aground at around 3 a.m. the next day after it encountered strong winds and huge waves.

Virgilio Retardo, the ferry’s 61-year-old ship captain, earlier told Coast Guard officials he saw huge waves coming, so he opted to turn aside and hide at the Bondoc peninsula. But some 500 meters away from the island, the ship ran aground, causing its hull to crack.

He claimed it was purely accidental and not a case of miscalculation on his part. 

Rescue teams ended their search for more bodies on Monday inside the sunken roll-on, roll-off ferry, after concluding that there could not have been more missing passengers after four days of underwater operations.

The 11 casualties were earlier identified as Chief Mate Rodolfo de la Fuente, seaman Wilgin Perlas, apprentice Daveson de Guzman, and passengers Nicanor and Leonila Arsipe, Gloria Deuda, Jean de Jesus, Cristina Labong, Lourdes Ricafranca, Maribel Mirallo and Lucena Arrizagada.

Carlos stressed that the minor oil sheen monitored by divers has also been put under control. He explained that there is no bunker oil as the ferry used diesel oil, which rapidly dissipates or evaporates through wave and wind actions.

Investigators have already discounted the possibility of overloading of passengers as the cause of the ferry’s sinking.