Sunken Empress’ owner faces NBI

MANILA, Philippines — The owner of the oil vessel M/V Princess Empress has presented himself to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Reymundo Cabial, owner of the RDC Reield Marine Services, appeared before the NBI-Environmental Crime Division yesterday afternoon.

This developed after the Environmental Crime Division issued a subpoena to the owner and crewmembers of the Empress.

The RDC Reield Marine Services owns the Empress, which sank last month in the waters off Naujan town in Oriental Mindoro.

The incident caused a massive oil spill that has affected not only the coast of Oriental Mindoro, but also of Antique and Palawan as well as Batangas including the Verde Island Passage, which serves as home to a vast species of marine life including whale sharks, sea turtles and corals.

Last Friday, the NBI summoned the 15 crewmembers of the Empress including the captain and their lawyers.

The crewmembers will be considered as “persons of interest” pending investigation of the maritime accident.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will receive a donation of 180,000 sheets of absorbent fiber and 11 drums that will be used in the ongoing cleanup of the oil spill.

The PCG said private firm NextGen and non-government organization Oceanus Conservation pledged to donate absorbent pads and an all-natural fuel dispersant that would help separate oil from water for easy removal.

The donations are expected to be turned over today to officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as well as to Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, who heads the PCG oil spill incident management team in Oriental Mindoro.

The PCG thanked Eco Trends International for supporting the government’s ongoing oil spill response operations in Oriental Mindoro.

Eco Trends pledged to donate three 40-footer shipping containers of microfiber absorbent pads.

The PCG said it would use specialized bags to collect the leaking oil from the Empress.

Vice Admiral Rolando Punzalan Jr., PCG deputy commandant for administration, said these specialized bags are the easiest and fastest devices for cleaning up the spill.

The bags are expected to arrive from Singapore on Thursday.

Punzalan said the specialized bags would catch the oil leaking from the tanker.

He said the insurance firm hired by the vessel owner committed to provide the bags needed for the oil spill cleanup.