Vessel that ran aground off Sarangani damages corals

The Panamanian-registered vessel that ran aground off Sarangani province in southern Philippines on Sunday had apparently damaged some 100 meters of precious corals, an exclusive report on GMA News’ “24 Oras" said Wednesday night, citing local officials. “Na-displace yung mga isda lalung-lalo na yung mga massive corals natin," said Carmelo Velasco, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office chief of Kiamba town where the Japanese-owned MV Double Prosperity ran aground. Velasco, in an interview aired over “24 Oras," said it will take 20 years before the damaged corals could recover. The vessel ran aground 2.5 nautical miles off Kiamba town at 10 a.m. Sunday and has been stuck there since. It has 21 Filipino crew members and was reportedly en route to India from Australia. The report said the vessel was carrying 65,000 metric tons of coal.

The local government of Kiamba is investigating the cause of the incident, with Mayor Danny Martinez even suspecting that it had something to do with the recently concluded fight between Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and American slugger Shane Mosley. The much awaited fight took place in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila). “Tinitignan ko nga baka busy sila sa panunuod ng fight n’un kaya walang nagtitimon. Nagtataka ako bakit ‘di nila napansin. Siyempre alam dapat nila kung saan sila dapat dumaan," said Martinez in the same TV report. The captain of MV Double Prosperity, however, denied that they were all watching the Pacquiao-Mosley bout when the incident happened, saying the cause was merely miscalculation on their part. “Pag-check ng position namali, na-miscalculate. Nung ma-discover na… by the time na gumawa ng action para ma-evade, it’s too late na, sumadsad na kami," said Capt. Danilo Sta. Ana in the same report. The report said it will take two weeks of good weather before the vessel can be removed from the area. The owners of the vessel also promised to pay the damages caused by the incident. - KBK, GMA News