Divers parry oil, collapsed ceilings and walls in ship

CEBU, Philippines - The search, rescue and retrieval operations for the remaining missing passengers and crew members of the ill-fated MV Saint Thomas Aquinas will continue until the joint task group deems it impossible to penetrate the ship further.

This was assured by Navy Forces Central (Navforcen) chief, Commodore Reynaldo Yoma, who said that they would not want to set a timeline as to when they will push through with their retrieval operations.

In a press conference yesterday, Yoma said divers from the Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Police Regional Office (PRO-7) as well as volunteers and technical divers were still willing to continue until all missing and unaccounted passengers and crew of the sunken MV Saint Thomas Aquinas are be found.

Josephus Dimaunahan, head of the Naval Special Operations group based in Navforcen, explained that they have penetrated parts of the ship but had a hard time in some areas where the walls and ceiling have collapsed. He added that the layout of the ship has completely changed. Unfortunately, this has made some areas of the ship unpassable, said Dimaunahan.

He said that most of the bodies that they were able to recover were in the economy area of the vessel and they continue to search for more bodies in the area.

The divers have cleared off most of the debris in the hallways, said Dimaunahan, and they are now focusing on penetrating the cabins of the ship. They have also been breaking some windows of the vessel in order to have additional access, although it still poses as a challenge for the divers since the ship’s windows are small.

As of yesterday, the joint task group has made 39 dives and retrieved 50 bodies.

All in all, there were 94 casualties recorded while 43 still remain missing as of yesterday morning.

Apart from the obstacles like beds, chairs and other materials that make diving operations more challenging, Dimaunahan said that the oil spill from the sunken ship is also a concern for the divers.

“Pag-ahon namin, talagang nababalutan kami ng oil,” said Dimaunahan. But he said that underwater, they are able to manage since they have been improvising by covering their regulators so they would not be able to take in the oil.

Aside from the oil that is being discharged from the vessel, Dimaunahan said there are also trapped oils in some parts of the ship which they should be cautious about.

The owner of MV Saint Thomas Aquinas, 2GO group, reportedly sought the services of Malayan Towage who already plugged in seven holes from the ship.

PCG District Commander for Central Visayas William Melad explained yesterday though that the oil leak is an “evolving situation” since when one hole is plugged, the oil finds its way to another hole.

This is why the PCG have demanded already for 2GO to remove the trapped oil from the ship which was immediately heeded by the company by having Malayan Towage ship in a pump that would siphon the oil from the vessel.  (FREEMAN)