Alert skipper averts sea collision

CEBU CITY — Only the quick thinking of a skipper averted what could have been another tragedy involving an Island Express ferry.

Just a little over two weeks when 10 people died when a service boat of an Island Express ferry capsized after colliding with a fishing boat in Hagnaya, a sister-ferry barely missed another collision the other day, this time with two fishing boats.

As the Island Express I skippered by Godofredo Garces was leaving the Hagnaya port for Sta. Fe on Bantayan Island, it found its way blocked by two fishing boats anchored offshore.

Garces, finding no space to maneuver around either of the fishing boats, stopped the engine and then restarted it full astern.

In a marine protest he later filed with the Coast Guard, Garces identified the two fishing boats that blocked his path as the JSB-1 and the Rodjard.

He said he did not know who were in command of the boats but claimed having noticed there were crewmen on board.

Alex Tan, owner of Island Shipping, operator of Island Express I, said he was informed that the fishing boats were searching for a crewman who had gone missing since Monday evening.

The crewman allegedly got drunk, after attending a disco in San Remegio.

The near-collision delayed the trip of the ferry.

The latest incident prompted Coast Guard Cebu district commander Godofredo Mandal to order a review of docking procedures and the overall situation at the Hagnaya port.

On Dec. 22, the Island Express V, unable to dock at the Hagnaya port from Sta. Fe because of low tide, asked its passengers to transfer to its service boat to be ferried onto the dock.

But the service boat, carrying almost twice its passenger capacity, collided instead with a fishing boat and sank, killing 10 of the passengers.

Tuesday’s incident happened at almost exactly the same place as the Dec. 22 accident. — Freeman News Service