Storm prevents Chinese ship from leaving Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The scheduled departure of the Chinese-flagged bulk carrier M/V Ming Yuan yesterday was cancelled due to the tropical storm Gorio which hit Eastern Samar and Cebu.

Assistant Station Commander Cecille Romero of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu Station told The FREEMAN in a phone interview yesterday that they did not allow the vessel to depart yesterday since it will be passing Eastern Visayas, which was under typhoon signal number 1.

The PCG-Cebu Station personnel has been guarding and ensuring the safety of the 24 crew on board, who are all Chinese, and the vessel itself.

“Our personnel are monitoring the ship for 24 hours,” said Romero.

The Hong Kong-registered vessel was transferred from Malapascua Island to Tapilon Point in Daanbantayan, the detachment area of the PCG.

Agent Romeo Bujawe of PHILHUA Shipping Inc., the local shipping agent of M/V Ming Yuan, said yesterday that he was in Tapilon already but could not go to the anchorage area because no motorized boat can ferry him amidst the typhoon.

Bujawe already secured the three clearances from the Bureau of Quarantine, Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Customs the other day after paying a penalty of close to P1.4 million.

The ship’s agent paid the penalty amounting to P1,396,240 to the three agencies as fines for illegal anchorage off Malapascua Island since May 19.

They first paid the Bureau of Immigration Main Office under Alien Control Officer Casimiro Madarang III with a total amount of P1,266,240. Bujawe flew from Manila to Cebu to pay the remaining P100,000 to the Bureau of Quarantine and P30,000 to the Bureau of Customs.

He was about to deliver the clearances to the ship’s captain at daytime yesterday but could not do so because of the waves.

“Ready na gyud ang mga clearances, naa na nako. Ako na lang gyud ning ihatag sa captain but na-delay ko kay wala may pump boat nga molarga padung sa anchorage area, maong magpaabot na lang ko kung mo-subside ang ulan,” Bujawe said.

As of 7:30 last night, however, the ship captain already got hold of the clearances and was just waiting for the weather to improve, ready to sail.

The Philippine Coast Guard-Cebu Station is now closely monitoring the weather and once the PAGASA will declare that there are no more typhoon signals in Eastern Visayas and Cebu, they will already be permitted to depart, said Romero.

The vessel was stranded in Malapascua Island since May 19. They were about to load about 30,000 MT of Moico Iron Sand at the Port of Isabel, Leyte tentatively scheduled May 16-20, 2013.

However, the shipper failed to confirm the readiness of shipment and to save on operational costs, the shipowners decided that the vessel drop anchor off Malapascua Island in the meantime, which was near the port of Isabel, to wait for the confirmation. The vessel had no other scheduled voyage or upcoming engagements, so the vessel waited and gave the shipper enough time to come up with the shipment.

The shipment was eventually canceled. (FREEMAN)