Collision reported 40 minutes after Catalyn sank

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said they would require officials of the fishing vessel that figured in a collision with M/V Catalyn-B, killing at least 25 people, to explain why they only reported the maritime incident 40 minutes after the ship sank.

Commodore Luis Tuason Jr., PCG National Capital Region-Central Luzon district commander and head of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI), said they would seek an explanation from the captain of the F/B Anatalia.

Tuason, accompanied by other SBMI members, visited the Vessel Traffic Monitoring Center (VTMC) where they reviewed the recorded radio messages with the two ships on the day of the collision.

It appeared that the M/V Catalyn-B sent a distress radio message at around 1:14 a.m. of Dec. 24. But it did not send out a radio message again, raising speculations that the vessel had already sank at this time.

It was only after 40 minutes or at around 1:54 a.m. when the crew of the steel-hulled fishing boat called up the VTMC and reported that they figured in a collision with M/V Catalyn-B last Dec. 24.

“It appeared that the F/B Anatalia was positioned outside its designated sea lane. The F/B Anatalia was in the wrong position. It was in the outbound lane of the Manila Bay instead of the inbound lane,” Tuason said.  

The fishing boat had just come from a fishing expedition in the Turtle Island and was entering Manila Bay when the collision happened.

The wooden-hulled M/V Catalyn-B, for its part, was on its way out of Manila Bay en route to Lubang Island in Mindoro Occidental.

During the 40-minute gap, there were other vessels that passed by the area that could have helped in the immediate search and rescue operation.

“If there were other ships involved in the search and rescue, chances are they might have found more survivors,” Tuason said.

Meanwhile, M/V Baleno 9 chief mate Desen Cajuyong, a major patron, said he saw water at the car deck just before the vessel capsized.

He was navigating the 199-gross ton M/V Baleno 9 last Dec. 26 and had just passed by Isla Bako Chico going to Matuko Point when they heard a loud thud from the bow section.

He went down to the car deck to check and saw that there was water coming in from the port side. The water was about ankle high at the car deck. They used a submersible pump to remove the water but moments later, the vessel capsized.

“I do not know where the water came. The bow ramp was closed,” Cajuyong said.

At that time, he said there was no one else in the area except the crew. He was not aware that a family was allegedly staying inside a van parked in the car deck area.

Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) Enforcement Office chief Arnie Santiago said they only used nylon to secure the vehicles. The nylon cord reportedly only passed above the vehicle or was tied down vertically.

Santiago explained that nylon is stretchable and has minimal force in securing the rolling cargoes. He believed that Cajuyong should have made an “X-formation” tie on the bottom of the vehicles to keep them immobilized.

Santiago also wanted to know if the drainage was clogged because if it were, then it would be difficult to remove the water from the ship.