Ship captains tell conflicting stories of Cebu collision

MANILA, Philippines - Whose story is true?

The captains of MV St. Thomas Aquinas and MV Sulpicio Express Siete told conflicting stories about the collision of their ships last week at Lawis Ledge in Talisay, Cebu when they were called in by the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) yesterday.

The SBMI also called in the captain of Trans Asia Nine as the vessel was reportedly present in the accident area prior to the collision on the night of Aug. 16.

Captain Reynan Bermejo of St. Thomas Aquinas said he was traversing the inbound lane on the way to Cebu when he noticed in the radar that another ship was in the same lane.

Bermejo said he tried to contact the other ship through channel 16 but there was no answer. At the time, Thomas Aquinas was traveling at 15 knots and was a mile away from the Sulpicio Express.

Minutes before the collision, Sulpicio Express was still not responding. Bermejo said it was already too late to slow down the Thomas Aquinas as it takes around eight minutes to completely halt the propeller of the ship.

Four minutes before collision, Bermejo said it was only then that he saw the red light from Sulpicio Express, prompting him to immediately turn to port or left side. The red light is a sign for a ship to turn right while green signals left.

Bermejo said that upon shifting to port side, he then attempted to turn right to avoid collision. But Sulpicio Express shifted gear also to its right which consequently led to the collision. 

Captain Rolito Gilo of Sulpicio Express denied Bermejo’s claims.

The emotional Gilo said it was Thomas Aquinas that suddenly changed gear at only 0.4 nautical miles. He thought the passenger vessel would turn to its starboard or right side since it was showing a red light. – With Evelyn Macairan