Marina: 5 Aboitiz ships can sail amid ferry investigation

(Updated) Five vessels of the Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATSC), the Philippines' largest shipping firm, were allowed to sail again after being suspended for more than a week, the country's maritime regulator said on Friday. Audit undertaken on the ships' seaworthiness only showed "minor problems," Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Ma. Elena Bautista said in a dzBB report. SuperFerry ships 2, 12, and 19 and Cebu Ferry vessels 1 and 2 are set to resume operations, transporting passengers and goods to their respective destinations. [See Aboitiz-owned ships' routes here] The decision to allow these Aboitiz vessels to sail again has "averted a transport slowdown of goods, ensuring sufficient inventories for food stores and retailers, especially those in the Visayas and Mindanao," a logistics executive told GMANews.TV. Besides carrying passengers, SuperFerry ships are also Roll-On, Roll-Off (RoRo) vessels, which transport goods loaded on trucks of 2Go, an ATSC subsidiary. Among 2Go's clients include companies that distribute products of large food companies including Nestle and San Miguel Corp. ATSC and Sulpicio Lines transport half of the country's inter-island shipments. In the meantime, maritime executives on Thursday warned that Aboitiz's continued suspension "may discourage foreign investments" in the shipping industry. This was announced by Mark E. Williams, a director of a Kuwaiti fund that has investments in Negros Navigation Co. Inc. (Nenaco), one of the Philippines' oldest shipping companies. Williams' sentiments were shared by Sulficio O. Tagud Jr., Nenaco's chairman and chief executive. Nenaco helped out Aboitiz by carrying its passengers and shipments during its suspension, Tagud told GMANews.TV. He added that the company charged ATSC "a special rate" for this arrangement. Previously, Nenaco -- together with a Kuwaiti fund -- tried to acquire ATSC. See story here. Last week, Marina suspended the operations of ATSC after one of its vessels, SuperFerry 9, sank off the coast of Zamboanga Peninsula, last Sept. 6. Nine people were killed in the incident. The company is "happy" with Marina's decision, Jess Supan, ATSC's vice president for safety and security, said in a phone interview. "In the first place, the company has always complied with all the requirements of Marina, even before any of our ships sail," Supan added. On Tuesday, ship captain Jose Yap told the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) that winds measuring 10 knots or 11 kph had caused the vessel to list to its sideboard three times - at 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. - on September 5. The 7,268-ton ship, which was heading to Iloilo province from General Santos City, sank at about 9 a.m. the next day. More than 900 passengers and crew members were rescued. Yap said they dealt with the situation through “heeling operation," a procedure that involved putting water into the heeling tank to normalize the position of the vessel at zero degree. When the ship tilted for the third time, Yap said he ordered his crew to prepare to abandon ship. However, BMI chairman Rear Admiral Alejandro Flora said in a GMA News report that winds of up to 10 knots are not strong enough to cause a vessel to list, especially if the cargo and container vans are properly placed so as not to affect the balance of the vessel. No stranger to danger Aboitiz, the largest shipping company in the Philippines, is no stranger to sea mishaps. Last May, SuperFerry 9 was stranded off the coast of Camiguin province for more than 12 hours due to engine problems. In February 2007, the ship conked out southwest of Daog Point on Negros Island while on its journey from Bacolod City to Iligan City in Mindanao. Engine problems were blamed for the interruption, and another ship had to bring SuperFerry 9 to shore. A year earlier, the vessel was stranded near Masbate and a cracked engine cylinder head was identified as the cause of the engine trouble. After the ship was repaired, the replacement cylinder suffered a leak on the same day while crossing Romblon waters. The series of incidents prompted Marina to revoke SuperFerry 9’s safety certificate in 2007 and order the company to dry-dock and repair the ship properly. SuperFerry 9 is not the only Aboitiz-owned ship that has run into trouble in recent years. In early 2007, the Palawan-bound ship Our Lady of Medjugorje was stalled as its lube oil pump broke down, disabling its engine. The vessel was drifting off to the South China Sea before rescue ships could pull the ship to harbor, ending the 60-hour ordeal of those aboard. Another Aboitiz vessel, SuperFerry 12, caught fire in March 2006 off Bantayan Island in Cebu. Three people were arrested on arson charges after the incident. - GMANews.TV