EDITORIAL - Marina must rethink grounding policy

Shipping operators have a point in asking the Maritime Industry Authority to repeal a circular that calls for the grounding of the entire fleet of a shipping company in the event one of its ships get involved in a maritime accident.

Grounding an entire fleet on account of an accident involving just one ship is both unwarranted and unfair, unless of course it can be irrefutably determined that the cause of the accident is something that is present in the entire fleet.

In most cases, however, the cause of the accident is isolated. It is either due to human error or to unforeseen circumstances such as the weather, which are reasons not compelling enough to warrant the grounding of whole fleets of ships.

This is not to say that Marina be stripped of its authority to ground ships. In fact the grounding of ships must remain an option within Marina as part of its oversight, regulatory, and sanctioning powers.

But the grounding circular must be modified to render it more specific and qualified. As it is, it is too broad and sweeping and does not work either to solve the problem at hand, and to preserve and protect the greater interest of the public.

The Philippines is an archipelago where the main mode of transporting people and goods between the islands is by ship. So while the Marina may have to keep the safety factor foremost in its policies, still it cannot ignore the economic impact of any action done in safety's name.

If Marina has to ground an entire fleet, it must be absolutely sure that the grounding is the action required under the circumstances. Anything short of such certainty will render any good motive on its part counter-productive.

Good motives cannot be allowed to become shotgun approaches solely on the basis of their being good motives. The road to hell, as they say, is often paved with the best of intentions. What Marina should have is open-mindedness to temper its awesome authority.

Grounding entire fleets without basis is a knee-jerk reaction that does not solve the problem but merely caters to anticipated but emotional public opinion after every accident. The Marina must not play to the gallery. It is the referee and must remain that way.