BMI evidence shows oil pilferage cause of Solar I sinking

A hole in the hull of the tanker Solar I, which investigators believe was used for pilfering oil from its cargo hold, might have caused its sinking and resulted in the Philippines’ worst oil spill.

Commodore Benjamin Mata, vice chairman of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s Special Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI), said they are now looking into that theory after finding a triangular opening in the hull during an underwater survey of the wreck by a Japanese submersible.

Mata said BMI members also found marks just below the opening, "which indicate there must have been a barge or small boat that came alongside the vessel."

"One of our objectives is to determine if there was really oil pilferage. The company, the captain and crew have all denied doing this practice and yet we see from the video footage taken in the survey that there are some (pieces of) evidence of ships coming alongside the Solar I. This is what we are looking for," Mata told reporters on the last day of hearings.

The BMI is also looking at other possible angles after the Japanese submersible had also found that one of Solar I’s storage tanks was empty.

"It could be the bunker oil in this tank, which had been discharged and transferred to another vessel. These are all guesses we are making but they are something to ponder upon," Mata stressed.

The BMI is expected to submit its findings today following a two-week inquiry.

Earlier, the panel was considering overloading as a possible reason for the sinking of the Solar I off Guimaras island on Aug. 11.

It was found that there was a violation of safety limit regulations when the tanker began its voyage from Bataan on Aug. 9 with a 0.25-meter excess in its draft, or the part of the vessel that’s submerged.

Solar I captain Norberto Aguro told the board the tanker’s draft was 5.1 meters when it started its voyage to Zamboanga City to deliver bunker fuel. But a certificate of Plimsoll line from Suzara Inc. showed that the vessel’s draft had a limit of 4.85 meters.

Petron Corp., which chartered the vessel, denied overloading the tanker and told the board that the vessel was only 98 percent full.

Rolando Salonga, distribution manager of the oil company who took charge of chartering the sunken vessel, claimed they made sure the oil tanker was seaworthy.

The inquiry’s focus then shifted when the Japanese survey vessel Shinsei Maru’s submersible found the triangular hole last week.

Aguro and his crew told the inquiry that they did not see the opening when they made an inspection during a stop in Iloilo.

Oil to be siphoned out

Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, who heads a task force charged with dealing with the spill, said they are considering a recommendation that the 1.8 million liters of oil still in the tanker be siphoned out.

"If you don’t siphon out the oil, that will cause another oil spill," he told a press briefing. Other options were to raise the Solar I and offload the oil or entomb the vessel with cement.

Aside from the PCG, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is also conducting its own probe.

A DOJ panel investigating the company that owns the tanker for possible violations of the anti-dummy law wants the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to gather more evidence for a case it is building.

In a report to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, the panel said there was strong indication that Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. (SMDC)’s Japanese and Filipino incorporators and officers violated the anti-dummy law for having a "50-50 Filipino-foreigner representation" in the company’s board of directors.

The panel is investigating Hiroyasu Yamaguchi, chairman of the board and company treasurer; Mototsugi Yamaguchi, vice president and board member; board members Tomoki Tsubomoto and Hiromi Irishika, all Japanese nationals.

The other company officials are Clemente Cancio, president and board member; Dionisio Parulan, incorporator; Roberto Mena, board member; Gregorio Flores, member of the board and corporate secretary; and Angelita Buenaventura, board member.

In their report to Gonzalez, Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda, the panel’s head, said the Japanese board directors had executed business transactions on at least two occasions.

"The matter be referred to the National Bureau of Investigation to secure additional evidence, including background checks on the financial capacity of the Filipino shareholders of SMDC, preparatory to the filing of a criminal case against the responsible directors, officers and incorporators" of the company, Pineda stated in his report.

Sunshine was incorporated on Feb. 22, 2002, with a declaration that it is 60 percent Filipino-owned and engaged in coastwise trade, an industry reserved for Filipino citizens of corporations organized under Philippine law, Pineda said.

"Participation of aliens in nationalized industries is limited by Section 2-A of the anti-dummy law. Under the law, the election of aliens as members of the board of directors or governing body of corporations or associations engaging in partially nationalized activities shall be allowed in proportion to their allowable participation or share in the capital of such entities," Pineda stated in his panel’s report.

While the anti-dummy law allows foreign investors to elect themselves as board directors in proportion to their share in the firm’s capital, it also limits the election of aliens as members of the board of directors in proportion to their participation.

"The majority status of the Filipino investors and the minority status of the foreign investors in nationalized industries should be maintained. More importantly, the employment of aliens in control and non-control positions in a nationalized business or trade is prohibited by the anti-dummy law, except for technical positions with previous authority of the secretary of justice. Otherwise stated, disqualified aliens cannot intervene in the management, operation, administration or control of the business reserved to Filipinos whether as an officer, employee or laborer, with or without remuneration," Pineda said. — With Christina Mendez, Jose Rodel Clapano