Yes, modernizing Roros is possible

As a proud Filipino who has spent the more than four decades of his professional career in the shipping business, Arben Santos wants to give something back to the maritime industry that he says has given him so much.

Specifically, Arben, who heads the Southwest Maritime Corp., has presented a roadmap that would help modernize the current Philippine steel passenger and roll-of, roll-on (RORO) fleets to make inter-island travel of Filipinos safe, secure and comfortable.

He draws inspiration from the completed modernization of the country’s domestic oil tanker fleets that was started in 2007 by the Maritime Industry Authority and completed in 2012, and transformed all single-hulled domestic tankers above 500 gross tons capacity to being double hulled.

This had required the cooperation of members of an industry that were cognizant of the growing risks to the environment, lives and property of oil spills, and were also concerned about the huge cost involved in undertaking the modification.

Political will

But with the government’s strong political will to find solutions to the perilous vulnerability of single-hulled tankers for inter-island transport of petroleum products, the conversion was successfully implemented over a five-year period.

As a result, there have been no incidents leading to any oil spill pollution involving our domestic oil tankers during the past few years, a good sign that all the effort that went into the Marina’s simple issuance of a circular is reaping a lot of goodwill.

The same political will is needed to implement the much-needed change for our RORO fleets that are inarguably too old and unsafe to ply our waters, many of which had been purchased second-hand from the discard yards of Japan and Korea and inadequately fitted and modified for Philippine waters.

Modernizing ROROs may be a bit more challenging than the case of single-hulled domestic oil tankers, but there is a way for those who believe that safety is a non-negotiable issue when it deals with risks to life and property.

Arben thinks that since the average age of our ROROs is 30 years, the only way to modernize them is to have new vessels acquired over a reasonable period of time. This would be more economical too than repairing these aged vessels.

Two-pronged roadmap

The road to a healthier RORO fleet will need to be on installment basis, taking into account the huge investments needed. The first, which would limit the importation of second-hand vessels of 5,000 gross tonnage and below to not older than 15 years, should be made effective as soon as possible.

The second, which should be implemented within a span of five years, has to set a stricter age limit of 35 years on vessels that can be allowed to operate in Philippine waters. Currently, over half of these small ROROs are more than 30 years old.

In addition to the age restrictions, the imported ROROs need to be fully classed by a member of the International Association of Classification Societies to establish and maintain the needed technical standards for the construction and operation of the ships.

Classing will also pave the way for the insurance of the small ROROs, which currently are not covered for hull damages, third party liabilities, and the cost of salvaging, if the vessel sinks in deep water.

Furthermore, until the ban on vessels aged 35 years and higher is in place, no major alterations on any RORO vessels should be allowed unless it is approved by or under the supervision of an IACS member, and is class maintained throughout.

A resolute Marina imperative

Taking off from the successful oil tanker modernization program, all these desired changes is possible simply with the issuance by Marina of the appropriate memorandum circulars, of course, after hearing the concerns of RORO owners.

It goes without saying that Marina will need to be strict and resolute in implementing the contents of the circulars while continuing to use its supervisory powers in conducting periodic inspections of RORO vessels and their crews.

Investment viability

Contrary to initial grumblings that may be heard from some current owners of RORO vessels, the proposed restrictions are not going to be financially burdensome if the huge cost of maintaining aging second-hand sea transporters is considered.

In fact, two visionary RORO shipping companies have started the fleet modernization process on their own. One of them had ordered five brand new ROROs from China for shorter routes, of which three have already been delivered.

The second Filipino shipping company had just recently inked a contract with a Japanese shipyard to build five big ROROs to be used in longer routes. The first vessel is expected to be delivered towards the end of the year.

What these two shipping companies are telling us is that buying brand new RORO vessels is financially justifiable without even factoring in the cost of lost lives and property when a sea accident happens. These newer vessels will definitely be more efficient and have less likelihood for marine pollution.

Multiple benefits

The much-needed modernization of our ROROs has other benefits. For one, it is highly possible that international travel advisories sternly warning their nationals when travelling in the Philippines not to use our ROROs will be lifted.

Secondly, those fairly new vessels will immensely help our efforts to promote tourism since most resort destinations are on inter-island shipping routes.

An ancillary benefit could be the possible jumpstart of a truly formidable national shipbuilding industry. So far, only foreigners like the Koreans and Japanese are maintaining and operating shipbuilding facilities in the Philippines. It would be nice if a Filipino company would seriously venture into shipbuilding.

Otherwise, the idea of more jobs in shipbuilding and ship repairs is an acceptable outcome, especially with the recognition by international shipbuilding companies of the strategic importance that the Philippines may play in the growing Asean market.

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