Refloating of sunken vessel to take 2 weeks

DAVAO CITY — It will take at least two weeks to refloat the cargo ship which sank beside the Sasa wharf here Tuesday morning after it collided with a Singaporean vessel which was then experiencing mechanical problems.

Crisilito Agustin, the Coast Guard’s Southern Mindanao commander, said the job to refloat the M/V Dinggalan Bay will have to be bid out first before it is awarded to any towage or salvage firm.

"The entire process will take at least two weeks. But by that time, we will see to it that the ill-fated cargo vessel will be out of the wharf so docking activities will go on smoothly," he said.

The Singaporean vessel, Pacific Eagle, was about to dock at the Sasa wharf when it rammed onto the starboard of M/V Dinggalan Bay.

The two vessels docked at the Sasa wharf every 15 days, with Pacific Eagle carrying vehicle spare and knock-down parts and M/V Dinggalan Bay loaded with steel bars and other containerized goods.

Agustin said the continued stay of the sunken ship at the wharf’s Berth 8 deprives port authorities of docking revenues.

A Coast Guard team has so far recovered over 20 drums of bunker fuel spilled from the sunken vessel.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard investigators summoned yesterday Capt. Lino Victoriano, harbor pilot who was aboard the Pacific Eagle at the time of the incident, to shed light on what exactly took place.

Agustin said the crew members of the Singaporean vessel, mostly Bangladeshi nationals, were told to stay here pending the results of the investigation.

The crew members, led by their captain, Ahmed Hashim, refused to issue any statement to investigators until their legal counsel arrives from the United Kingdom, Coast Guard officials said. — With Nestor Etolle