Board of Marine Inquiry eyes overloading as cause of Solar I sinking

The Coast Guard’s Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) disclosed yesterday the possibility that overloading might have caused the sinking of the oil tanker Solar I off Guimaras, which led to the country’s worst ecological disaster, last Aug. 11.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Danilo Abinoja, chairman of the 11-man SBMI panel, said their initial findings and the testimonies of witnesses indicate Solar I was already overloaded when it set sail and went down with two million liters of bunker fuel.

"We are looking at this angle of overloading as one of the possible causes of the sinking based on documents that gave us a picture of Solar I after it was loaded with oil," Abinoja said.

He said the panel discovered a violation of safety limit rules committed by Solar I when it left Bataan port last Aug. 9. He said there was 0.25-meter excess in its draft, or the part of the vessel which is submerged in water.

The skipper of the sunken vessel, Capt. Norberto Aguro, earlier claimed the tanker’s draft was 5.1 meters when it set sail for Zamboanga City.

Petron had commissioned Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., owners of Solar I, to deliver the bunker fuel to Zamboanga City when it sank some 24 kilometers off the coast of Guimaras on Aug. 11. Two of its crew are still missing.

Petron officials denied allegations of overloading the oil tanker, claiming it was only 98 percent full when it sailed.

They claimed the oil tanker was in good condition when it was inspected before the voyage.

Abinoja said overloading the vessel could possibly hold Aguro liable.

"We are weighing (the) evidence and claims from both sides. Most probably, we can issue our recommendation and findings by next week," he said.

Abinoja though did not rule out other possibilities that might have contributed to the sinking of Solar I.

He said the panel members are also focusing on the hole on the portside of the sunken tanker discovered by the Japanese survey vessel Shinsei Maru last week.

Aguro and his crew who testified before the SBMI hearing claimed they did not see the hole when they inspected the vessel at the Iloilo anchorage area a few hours before it sank.

They said the hole may have been caused by a container van that fell off a cargo shipment when the tanker was already sinking.

The SBMI wanted to determine if the owners of Solar I are involved in oil pilferage activities. Some panel members pointed out the hole could have been caused by another vessel that accidentally hit the tanker while the bunker oil was being loaded into the cargo bay.

"We really have to look at all possibilities. We are just basing our theories on evidences we gathered. Our objective is to determine what caused the sinking," Abinoja said.

The SBMI earlier disclosed the lack of competency of the skipper and crew could have contributed to the sinking.

Another possible angle, based on testimonies of resource persons and maritime experts, pointed out to the unstable condition of the ship.

External factors such as bad weather conditions are also being considered, Abinoja said.

He also revealed the extent of liability that could be imposed on Sunshine Maritime and Petron.

"We are looking at Sunshine Development in terms of possible liability in the sinking. As for Petron, we are determining if they could be held accountable for the oil spill since they own the fuel that is damaging the environment there in Guimaras and nearby provinces," Abinoja said.

Last Friday, the SBMI recommended the preventive suspension of Aguro on the initial investigation that he violated maritime laws by steering the ship with an expired Advanced Training on Chemical Operations certificate.

Aguro was only qualified to operate chemical tankers, and not oil tankers, Abinoja pointed out.

But Aguro insisted that his 25 years of experience as chemical tanker skipper is enough to make him competent to steer Solar I.

Aguro denied any liability in the sinking of the vessel, insisting that strong waves caused by bad weather conditions — not human error or any wrong decision — caused the sinking of the oil tanker.

Aguro said it was not a mistake but a judgment call when he ordered his crew to proceed despite the bad weather conditions in the Guimaras Strait.

Sunshine Maritime also conceded Aguro made the "wrong decision" to set sail. The company was told to start claiming its $300-million fund from an insurance company based in the Netherlands to compensate for the damages.

The panel said Sunshine Maritime should be fined for violating the limit for number of crew members.

The vessel should only have 16 crew members but it sailed in excess of two more, the SBMI said.

Abinoja also suggested the ship owners must be penalized for allowing Aguro and some of his crew to operate the fuel tanker with expired certificates.

No longer liable

As this developed, one of four Japanese investors of Solar I claimed he had withdrawn his interests from Sunshine Maritime last January.

According to Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda, chief of the special task force formed by the Department of Justice to investigate the criminal aspect of the incident, Japanese national Hiroyashi Yamaguchi had sold his shares to Sunshine Maritime president Clemente Cancio for P1 million.

Pineda said Yamaguchi himself submitted a copy of the deed of sale of the shares to the DOJ panel.

Pineda admitted the deed of sale might have been faked in the attempt to evade any civil or criminal liability over the sinking. — With Jose Rodel Clapano, Ronilo Pamonag