PCG wants shipping firms to post bonds

MANILA, Philippines - To speed up search, rescue and retrieval operations during maritime incidents, an official of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said there should be a law that would require shipping lines involved to post bonds to be used in the hiring of salvage firms and experienced divers.

PCG-National Capital Region-Central Luzon (NCR-CL) district commander Commodore Luis Tuason Jr. said there are maritime incidents where it isn’t clear who should pay the expenses in hiring salvage companies and experienced divers.

One such incident is the collision between the passenger ship M/V Catalyn B and the fishing boat F/V Anatalia.

Tuason said that since the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) has not started to investigate, they have not yet determined which of the two vessels should be held accountable for the death of 11 people, or who should be liable.

“We do not have the authority to require the shipping companies to put up a bond, but I think they should be ordered to post a bond with the understanding that the not guilty in the case be entitled to a refund,” the PCG-NCR official said. 

He would also leave it to the lawmakers, or whoever would craft the law, to decide whether it should be equally divided among the involved shipping lines or if it should be based on the policy that “the bigger the ship, the bigger the contribution.”

There had been instances when rescue efforts suffered delay because there is no clear-cut rule on who should pay for the expenses and it is seldom that they find a private salvaging firm who would volunteer and shoulder the cost of operation.

If nobody comes forward and shoulders the expenses, the PCG would not just sit down and wait for the private companies to produce the needed divers and equipment if such a law were in place.

It has been 16 days since the collision of Catalyn B and Anatalia and grieving relatives of the 16 missing are still asking for updates on the progress of the PCG’s operations.

The PCG, in the performance of its duty, started doing risky dives and attempt to recover the bodies that remain trapped inside the wreck, which lies at 221 feet near Limbones Island in Cavite.

Last Friday, one of its seasoned divers, Petty Officer 3 Armand Bonifacio, died after joining the search and retrieval operation.

In that dive, the PCG recovered the body of 16-year-old Jhoelyn Tampilic.

Tuason said he has yet to read the autopsy report to determine the cause of Bonifacio’s death. His remains were brought to Cainta, Rizal.

There were speculations that his death might have been related to his physical condition.