Two vessels from Cebu encounter “steering casualty”

CEBU, Philippines - Two vessels separately carrying at least 300 passengers and crew from Cebu on its way to the province of Leyte and Camiguin had to go back to Cebu port due to the vessels’ “steering casualty”.

According to the report of the Cebu Coast Guard Station, the M/V Super Shuttle Ferry 5 of Asian Marine Transport Corporation and M/V  Beautiful Stars of Roble Shipping, Inc., encountered such incidents separately while on their way to Camiguin and Leyte, respectively.

Jose Emery “Joy” Roble, president and chief executive officer of Roble Shipping, Inc., said that their vessel, M/V Beautiful Stars, experienced a sudden trip-off at around 1:30 in the afternoon yesterday while about 15-minutes away from pier 4 and still within the anchorage area.

M/V Beautiful Stars had 205 passengers, Roble said.

Roble said that all passengers safely docked at the port and will be transported to Leyte onboard another vessel, M/V St. Theresian Stars at 9:00 last night. It takes about four and a half to travel from Cebu City to Leyte.

“Very minor ang deperensiya. Pwede ra man gani na siya e-manually operate but wala na lang mi ni risgo. Gipabalik na lang ang barko, (It was a very minor defect. It may even be manually operated but we decided not to risk it and made our vessel return to the port),” said Roble, who is also the mayor of Hilongos, Leyte.

The CCGS report also stated that Roble Shipping management decided to cancel the said trip despite spare replacement, in order to ensure the safety of its passengers and crew.

According to the CCGS report, a defective solenoid valve of M/V Beautiful Stars caused the steering to malfunction while the steering casualty of M/V Super Shuttle Ferry 5 was caused by grounded wirings of the vessel’s steering motor.

M/V Super Shuttle Ferry 5 was already at the vicinity of Bien Unido, Bohol at 12:14 midnight when it encountered such incident. The vessel, with 50 passengers and 28 crew members was towed by M/V Super Shuttle Ferry 17 and returned to Mandaue City yesterday.

The CCGS report further stated that the master of M/V Super Shuttle Ferry 5 was advised to file a marine protest and to acquire a certificate of seaworthiness from the Maritime Industry Authority for repairs they will undertake prior to resumption of normal operations. (FREEMAN)