Coast Guard cites improvements in safety after 'Princess' mishap

MANILA, Philippines – Almost one year after the M/V Princess of the Stars capsized off Romblon on June 21, 2008 and killed at least 600 people, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said the mishap had served as a wake-up call for local maritime authorities, prompting concerned agencies to improve coordination among shipping companies to prevent maritime disasters.

PCG commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said that the disaster involving the Princess of the Stars, then considered the biggest inter-island vessel, served as a lesson for the maritime industry that pushed them to improve communication systems.

“The fate of M/V Princess of the Stars will always be a painful memory to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives during the incident and uncertainty for the relatives of the passengers who are still missing. However, the incident had also served as a wake-up call for those who are in the forefront of promoting the safety of life and property at sea,” said Tamayo in a statement.

He said the mishap stimulated the entire maritime industry to strengthen its efforts and adopt measures to prevent such incidents from recurring.

“For the shipping industry, maritime agencies and other stakeholders, the lessons learned from the disaster of M/V Princess of the Stars should serve as the driving force to initiate or enhance measures, and strengthen prevention efforts to mitigate the catastrophic effects of typhoons in the maritime environs,” he said.

The PCG consulted with concerned maritime industry leaders and came out with an improved “Guidelines on Movement of Vessels During Heavy Weather.”

Another pro-active measure taken was to assign PCG personnel at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astro-nomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Weather Forecasting Bureau to keep the PCG updated on the weather situation.

Looking back at the events that transpired during the year, the PCG has been actively helping the M/V Princess of the Stars Task Force (POTS-TF) to remove the hazardous chemicals that sank with the 23,000-ton vessel and recover the bodies of the fatalities.

The PCG and Sulpicio Lines Inc., owner of the ill-fated ship, are also now preparing for phase three of the retrieval operations — to remove the wreck from the site of the mishap off Sitio Cabitangan, Barangay Taclobo in Sibuyan Island, Romblon.

PCG teams rescued 33 survivors, while 548 bodies were recovered and 283 others were reported missing.

The new maritime guidelines include the dissemination of weather bulletins through the Navigational Telex (Navtex), which is covered by the PCG-Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Communications Enhancement Project for Maritime Safety and Security. They also send out regular Notice to Mariners (Notam) broadcast through the Internet and Navtex.

The JICA project is composed of four (4) systems: namely the Very Small Aperture Terminal/Voice Over Internet Protocol (VSAT/VOIP) System, the Microwave System, VHF-HF Radio Communication System, and the Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) aimed at improving the PCG’s communications network for better monitoring and tracking of vessels to improve response time during maritime casualties, close supervision of maritime traffic and improved security coverage of sealanes.

The PCG had forged a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) for the Joint Operation of Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) centers located at the Ports of Manila and Batangas. 

The Philippines is an archipelago consisting of more than 7,000 islands and more than 36,000 kilometers of combined coastline. The movement of people and goods is also largely dependent on sea transport.

The country is also located in the so-called “typhoon alley” of the world, statistics indicate that the country will still be visited by an average of 20-25 typhoons a year.

With these developments the PCG would be in a better position to live up to its motto of safer ships and cleaner seas.

It can be recalled that the Princess of the Stars left the Port of Manila on June 20, 2008 on its way to Cebu. However, just before noon the next day, upon reaching Sibuyan Island the ship was caught in the eye of typhoon “Frank” and was battered by strong winds and waves and heavy rains before the ship capsized.

Officials of Sulpicio Lines had sold the capsized ship to Royal Jessan Petromin Resources, Inc. late last year.

The previous salvor company Harbor Star, hired by Sulpicio, terminated phase two that covered the search and recovery operations of the bodies last Nov. 10. The firm removed the 400 drums of endosulfan and toxic chemicals such as hydrocarbon (bunker fuel) from the vessel. The salvors failed to recover half a kilo of trap, 10 kilos of antracol, 1 liter of tamaron and 6500 liters of hydrocarbon.