EDITORIAL - Dangerous waters

In good weather, at the entrance to a brightly lit, bustling port, two ships collided late Friday night, trapping scores of ferry passengers and crew in a watery grave. As narrated by witnesses and shipping company executives, human error seemed to be the culprit in the tragedy.

Around 80 people remained missing yesterday from the 2GO ferry M/V St. Thomas Aquinas, which sank just 30 minutes after its collision with the cargo vessel M/V Sulpicio Express 7. The confirmed fatalities rose to 38.

Maritime accidents occur regularly in this archipelago, claiming thousands of lives in recent decades. Philippine Span Asian Carrier Corp., the new name of Sulpicio Lines which owns the cargo ship, also owned the Doña Paz, the ferry that figured in the worst peacetime maritime disaster in the world when it collided with the oil tanker Vector in December 1987. Both ships sank in the shark-infested Tablas Strait off Mindoro. The death toll was estimated at more than 4,300, prompting a television documentary to describe the Doña Paz as “Asia’s Titanic.” The Vector was transporting petroleum products for Caltex Philippines.

Initial investigation of that disaster showed that the Doña Paz had only an apprentice crewmember at the bridge while the rest were drinking beer or watching TV. But the situation on the Vector, owned by Vector Shipping Corp., was found to be worse: there was no lookout at the time of the disaster, it had no qualified master, it was not seaworthy and had no license to operate. Sulpicio and Caltex were absolved of liability by the Supreme Court in July 2008.

Two decades is a long time for litigation, but typical in this country. In the absence of a final ruling, shipping companies can insist that they be allowed to continue operating, especially since domestic ferry service is limited to Filipinos and existing facilities aren’t enough to meet the demand. Since the Doña Paz disaster, other Sulpicio ferries have sunk, leaving hundreds of passengers dead.

Transport authorities can make up for snail-paced litigation by tightening the regulation of the maritime industry, but this has not happened. Unqualified and undisciplined crew, poorly maintained and aging vessels, inaccurate manifests and sloppy record-keeping continue to bedevil the industry. Authorities are reminded to speed up reforms only when another disaster strikes.