3rd attempt fails to refloat cargo ship grounded off Sarangani

business mirror

SUNDAY, 05 JUNE 2011 18:44 MANUEL T. CAYON   / REPORTER

DAVAO CITY—The 277-meter-long Panamanian cargo ship failed to respond to the third attempt at refloating it last week from the reefs off Sarangani, as the private towing company continued to unload part of its cargo of coal to lighten it. 

Three tugboats commissioned by the Malayan Towage Co. gave up on Friday morning to pull out the 39,000 gross tonnage MV Double Prosperity, which was en route to India from Australia when it ran on May 8 into the Bacud Reef, a protected seascape 50 nautical miles off General Santos City in southern Mindanao. 

The salvaging operation was the third attempt and timed at the recorded highest tide in the area, from 3 to 6:30 a.m. The operation was stopped by 10 a.m., but the ship did not move. 

The Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Romblon 3503 was also stationed near the grounded cargo ship to keep an eye on the ship for possible oil spillage or security threat, the Sarangani Information Office said.

Another attempt was slated over the weekend.

The grounded cargo ship was twice the length of a football field and carried a load of 65,961 metric tons of coal and was the largest ship in recent history to be grounded in Philippine waters.

General Santos City Coast Guard station deputy commander Roy Echeverria said the ship carried a 22 all-Filipino crew onboard including the ship captain, Danilo Santa Ana.

The Sarangani information office said salvor master Daniel Sarmiento of the Malayan Towage Co. said they would unload 8,000 metric tons of coal from the ship and transfer it to a chartered ship and a barge to lighten it.

The salvor uses a tugboat with clamshell attached to a crane to unload the cargo from hatch number 2 to the barge.

The crew placed a mat between the ships to avoid spillage of coal to the sea.

Last week some 2,100 metric tons of cargo were already unloaded to a chartered ship that can carry up to 4,000 metric tons. A barge is also in the area to carry an additional 2,000 metric tons of cargo.

 Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez has already issued a stern warning to prevent further blunder in the operations, saying, “We do not want agencies to commit blunders that may become an international disaster. We are a protected seascape thus adding more seriousness to the matter.”

The ship captain has admitted in his affidavit that the ship went aground “due to human error.”