Marina grounds Trans Asia 10

CEBU, Philippines - The Maritime Industry Authority-7 has grounded one of the passenger vessels owned by Trans-Asia Shipping Lines after its engine cooling system conked out Tuesday few hours before it was scheduled to leave for Cagayan de Oro City.

Lawyer Jose Cabatingan III, head of the franchising and legal affairs section of Marina-7, ordered the suspension of the passenger safety certificate of MV Trans Asia 10 pending investigation and inspection.

The vessel will not be allowed to sail until the agency lifts the suspension order of its safety certificate.

The vessel was supposed to depart from Cebu for Cagayan de Oro City last Tuesday when the cooling system of its main engine bogged down. Abner Llenos, of Trans-Asia, explained the vessel could have proceeded with its voyage because the main engine was working perfectly.

However, the shipping company decided to cancel the trip because of the possibility that the engine might overheat in the middle of the voyage because of the problem in the cooling system.

“Gi-start na namo ang main engine simultaneously with the cooling nya dili man siya makahatag og cooling  ngadto sa engine so among gipahunong nya we made repairs unta to gani nikabat to og pila ka oras. We really give our best to make it work to repair the damage sa defect nya dili man gyud mada so we opted to cancel the trip so that makakompleto gyud namo ang pag-repair so that the main engine will have its own cooling system restored,” said Llenos.

Llenos said the company submits to the order of Marina and will take the necessary corrective measures.

Llenos said some passengers transferred to the company’s other vessel while others opted for a ticket refund.

“One important thing is that we really care to our passengers nga amo silang gitagaan og meals, tanan necessities and then another thing is that, we have always been transparent as evidenced yesterday sa among pagpakita sa media personnel nga we are open,” said Llenos. — (FREEMAN)