Coast Guard eyes 1-month probe of SuperFerry tragedy

The Coast Guard expects to spend at least one month in the probe of the sinking of SuperFerry 9 off Zamboanga Peninsula in southern Philippines last Sunday. Radio dzRH reported that the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) said stages of the investigation, which will start this Friday, will take place in the cities of Iloilo and General Santos. Coast Guard vice commandant for administration Rear Admiral Alejandro Flora, who chairs the BMI looking into the incident, said they will start the investigation by interviewing passengers in Iloilo and General Santos City on Friday. This way, Flora said, passengers need not go to Manila to testify. On the other hand, he said the Board of Marine Inquiry will grill the officials of SuperFerry 9 from September 14 to 17. He added they expect to interview officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) on September 18 and 19. The other survivors will have their chance to testify from September 22 to 25. On Wednesday, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) warned Aboitiz Transport System against continuing to sell tickets following the suspension order on its fleet over the sea tragedy. "Nasa show cause order, kasama sa pagsuspindi. So sa management, dapat gawin nilang hakbangin wala nang pamimigay o pamamahagi ng ticket (It is included in the show cause order. So it is up to management to stop selling tickets for its SuperFerry fleet)," Transportation Undersecretary Thompson Lantion said in an interview on dzBB radio Wednesday. [See: DOTC warns Aboitiz vs selling SuperFerry tickets] The ATS has filed a motion for reconsideration over the suspension order. Data from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) showed that as of early Wednesday, 10 people died in the incident. - GMANews.TV