Why are these old, unsafe ROROs still allowed?

This time, it’s fire. Over a week ago, M/V Rina Hosanna, a roll on, roll off inter-island sea vessel bound for the Batangas port, caught fire just at it was about to enter the Batangas City waters.

Luckily, the Philippine Coast Guard was able to immediately dispatch its fast patrol craft to help all 88 passengers and 26 crew members evacuate safely. The fire was subsequently doused — a good seven hours after it started.

Philippine ROROs seem to be getting more notorious in the frequency of accidents they get involved in. Just a day after the M/V Rina Hosanna fire incident, its sister ship, the M/V Divina Gracia ran aground off the waters of Batangas.

This time, three passengers were reportedly injured although the vessel was eventually safely raised and docked at port. Both ROROs, incidentally, are owned by Montenegro Shipping Lines.

While many of the previous accidents in the industry have been aggravated by typhoons, other reasons like overloading, inadequate maintenance, incomplete passenger manifests and lack of necessary lifesaving equipment have come to fore, claiming lives and property.

The biggest problem, though, continues to be the existence of vessels over 35 years of age, especially those operating on longer routes. Most are brought in as second-hands, usually discards from Japan which has strict age limitations on their inter-island vessels.

Recurring problem

If we go through the record of sea-faring accidents in the Philippines, almost all involve old, second-hand vessels, many of which have been reconfigured to fit the needs of the ship owners in the operation of their businesses.

When I started writing this column more than a decade ago, there was never a year that would pass when an accident involving a RORO would not happen. Countless incidents  – all of which could have been have been avoided – also transpired which involved a variety of mechanical and shipping personnel problems.

The existence of unsafe, old ROROs continues to threaten the safety of millions of Filipino commuters and the products transported from various islands to major ports. This also affects the tourism industry, particularly of foreign backpackers, who are advised by their respective countries to avoid using local ships.

Continued neglect of proposed roadmap

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has continuously been asked by commuters and responsible members of the domestic shipping sector to take immediate action on the following concerns, but sadly, nothing has been done.

Instead, Marina has given more weight to the views raised by some of the shipping companies that a reform of the existing regulations would hurt the business of shipping and cripple the services for inter-island travel.

A proposed roadmap for the modernization of local shipping vessels calls for a ban of over-30-year-old ROROs. It takes into consideration the business economics that ship owners have voiced out by giving them a moratorium of three years in operating old vessels on the condition they are inspected annually.

Considering the fact that owners have fully recovered their investments, and perhaps have earned a little more by operating their vessels for over 30 years, this moratorium is deemed reasonable.

The roadmap also seeks to disallow the importation of second-hand vessels over 20 years. Specifically for those imported from Japan, the second-hand vessels are intrinsically unsafe for the rougher waters of Philippine seas.

While the engines of  Japanese vessels have been well maintained, the design is only good for the calm seas of Japan. When Filipino ship owners add another level to the second-hand Japanese ship to accommodate more passengers, it becomes unwieldy when facing the strong winds and high waves of the Philippine open seas.

Other problems

As a country with over 7,100 islands, Marina should encourage ROROs to be assessed by international classification agencies recognized worldwide like the American Bureau of Shipping, the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, or the Lloyds Registry.

Being classified by an international agency means recognition by the International Association of Classification Societies and insurance companies, and subsequently, receiving adequate insurance coverage. Marina apparently does not require RORO operators to have third party liability coverage.

Insurance is important because it will cover not only passengers’ needs and benefits, but also costs incurred to manage oil pollution, damage to properties like piers, and removal of wrecks.

Such a problem plagued the Princess of the Orient, a Sulpicio vessel that sunk a few years ago. The vessel remained partly submerged in water for a few years because there was not enough money to lift and salvage it. In the meantime, it posed a hazard to other ships that passed by the area.

Keeping our seas safe

Our government, the Marina in particular, needs to exert greater effort to keep our seas safe. If the agencies that govern land travel have been able to impose an age cap on buses that ply our streets, there is no reason for Marina not to do so.

Trucks and cars are also required to secure compulsory third party liability (TPL) insurance coverage, and yet Marina does not require this coverage for RORO vessels when the exposure is much more.

Will the very strong lobby organized by owners of old vessels continue to dominate the decisions made by Marina with regards urgently needed actions to protect the public? Will the current Marina head succumb to pressure? How many more lives should be lost before Marina and President Duterte take action?

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.