81 of 400 packs of toxic chemicals retrieved from sunken ship

MANILA, Philippines – Salvage divers have retrieved a total of 81 packs of the toxic chemical endosulfan from the MV Princess of the Stars that sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last June.

An official of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI), the owners of the sunken ferry, said divers from the salvaging firms Titan Maritime Inc. and Harbor Star were able to remove 47 packs of the chemical yesterday afternoon. This would be on top of the 34 packs of endosulfan recovered from last Tuesday’s retrieval operations.

SLI vice president for marketing Jordan Go said the salvage operations continued even during rough sea conditions brought about by tropical storm “Pablo.”

Go said a total of 400 packs of endosulfan have to be retrieved from the cargo hold of Princess of the Stars.

The storm has slowed salvage operations at the site.

Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista said she had relayed orders by the Coast Guard before midnight to slow down the salvage operation.

Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the salvage divers initially hesitated to continue the retrieval operations because of the rough seas brought about by storm Pablo.

“They initially observed that there was rough seas, but the weather improved because (the storm) has moved away, so they decided to push through with the salvaging operations,” Tamayo said.

Go, for his part, said preparations have already been made to remove the 250,000 liters of crude oil from the sunken ship.

The 23,000-ton ferry, carrying 850 passengers and crew, capsized at the height of typhoon “Frank” last June 21, with almost 800 people believed dead in the country’s worst maritime disaster in 20 years.

The vessel was later found to be carrying toxic pesticide endosulfan without the proper permits and an international salvage team has been sent to bring up the pesticide before it leaks.

Salvage operations by Harbor Star and Titan Salvage started this week but only 81 of the 400 containers of endosulfan have been extracted, Bautista said.

“Our timetable is 12 to 16 days. It seems we will be slowed down but I think we can still meet the 16-day deadline,” Bautista said.

Bautista said about 250 tons of bunker fuel would then be removed before divers could get to the bodies still trapped under the ship.

Salvage operations did not begin until August and authorities had to proceed cautiously to prevent the cargo from shifting and spilling.

The retrieved packs, each weighing 25 kilos, were sealed in steel drums after they were pulled out of the water.

Officials said the packs of endosulfan were still intact when they were retrieved from the cargo hold of the ship.

The sinking of the Princess of the Stars is the country’s worst sea accident since the Doña Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker in December 1987, killing more than 4,000 people.

Ferries are a popular mode of transport for the masses in the Philippines because fares are cheap, but ageing vessels and overloading commonly cause accidents.

Despite the yearly sea mishaps and natural calamities befalling the country, the Coast Guard admitted they still lack the standby elite emergency response rescue unit.

Vicente Lagunday of the Philippine Association of Emergency Medical Services Personnel (PAEMSP) said the absence of an elite “all weather, all terrain” emergency rescue team could not address the increasing number of sea tragedies.

“With millions of people still using marine transport to travel from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and the different islands in our archipelago, there is a real need for a highly trained, well-maintained emergency rescue team,” Lagunday said.

“We’re an archipelago so our Coast Guard should always be ready to conduct emergency rescue throughout our islands,” he said.

Lagunday said other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, have their emergency response team dealing with maritime disasters and accidents.

“Right now, rag-tag emergency rescue teams formed from the combined personnel of different military and civilian government agencies conduct a disorganized rescue effort when we have incidents. With such an arrangement, there are no (international) standards being observed,” Lagunday said.  –With Rainier Allan Ronda