Cargo boat capsizes

CEBU, Philippines - A cargo vessel about to depart for Masbate tilted before it capsized at around 9:46 in the evening last Monday.

M/V Maria Angelica Grace, loaded with hundreds of sacks of rice and sugar including a truck of construction materials and furniture, sank off the Cabahug wharf in Looc, Mandaue City.

It was about to depart at 11:00 p.m. on Monday for Masbate when it tilted to the left due to an uneven arrangement of the trucks. A truck slipped towards the left until it tilted completely and sank face down.

It was also learned that there were five ten-wheelers truck fully loaded with cargoes at the time it capsized.

All 19 crew members, including the boat captain, left the boat a minute before it capsized and no one was reported injured during the incident.

The boat captain, 36-year-oldWilson Dieta of Ilo-Ilo City, admitted that he never expected the weight of one truck loaded with construction materials to make the boat tilt. The driver tried to recover the balance but due to the waves caused by a passing fast craft heading towards Cebu City, the truck slipped until the boat tilted some more and later sank.

The captain took over command of the said boat just last February, but he has been a boat captain of cargo vessels for almost a year now.

M/V Maria Angelica Grace was owned by Rapal Inter-Island shipping based in Las Piñas City, Metro Manila. The boat was bought in South Korea in 1996.

Chief Petty Officer Edilberto Amor of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu District responded with his team upon a call from Dieta seeking assistance.

Amor and his team went to the area bringing with them the spill booms and immediately spread it around the boat to contain the leaking crude oil.

Captain Dieta said the boat has more than 8,000 liters of crude oil and some 28 tons of fresh water.

“We are looking for a salvor to refloat the ship and have the crude oil siphoned first to avoid more oil leaks,” he said.

Amor advised Dieta to come to their office to file their marine protest, as he also advised the ship captain to immediately find a salvor to avoid more leaks.

Meanwhile, upon learning of the incident, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes visited the area as he wants the oil spill to be contained immediately.

The mayor was glad that Coast Guard Station Commander Weniel Azcuna was quick to dispatch his men and an oil spill boom was already present in the area when he arrived.

Even if the Coast Guard has been doing its best to contain the oil spill, the mayor said that he will still seek the help of big companies such Petron and other oil companies based in the city who has the capability to help contain the oil spill.

Cortes said that he wants an immediate remedy because it will affect the livelihood of fishermen living along the coastal barangays in the city. - /JPM (FREEMAN)