EDITORIAL — Safety at sea not to be trifled with

Two sea disasters just a few days apart have claimed several lives.

The first was the sinking of the Singapore-flagged MV Devon Bay which had an all-Filipino crew of 21. It capsized near Panatag Shoal last January 23.

Seventeen of the seafarers were rescued by the China Coast Guard, four died in the incident. The 17 rescued have been turned over by the China Coast Guard to our coast guard. Of course, our thanks are in order for what they did. For this one occasion questions of what the China Coast Guard were doing in our territorial waters can be set aside, they were in the right place and the right time to rescue fellow sailors.

We are also sure that our own coast guard would have done that same if Chinese sailors needed aid.

The more recent one happened just yesterday after the MV Trisha Kerstin 3 sank heading to Jolo, Sulu, from Zamboanga. In fact, many of us woke up to see in our social media feeds a video of sinking victims treading water for their lives in the darkness and open sea.

The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 was carrying over 350 people. As of this writing yesterday, at least 316 people have been rescued while 15 died and 28 remain unaccounted for.

Pending further investigation, we don’t know yet what caused the sinking. Coastguard Commander Romel Dua of Southern Mindanao District said the vessel was cleared to leave Zamboanga and there were no indications it was overloaded. But still, something went wrong; otherwise it would not have sunk.

For a while the Philippines was known as the maritime disaster capital of the world. In fact, we are known for the worst peacetime maritime disaster in history. For those who cannot remember, that was the sinking of the MV Doña Paz in December 1987 where over 4,300 people died.

However, it should also be acknowledged that over the years better accountability, better travel options, and improved standards have led to sea disasters here becoming fewer and farther between. But they still do happen on occasion.

This should again be a sobering reminder that safety at sea cannot be trifled with. And this goes for all vessels from the smallest of fishing boats up to the biggest of inter-island ferries.