'No fly, no sail zone' on rocket path declared

MANILA, Philippines - The government will implement Thursday a no fly, no sail and no fishing zones in areas that lie along the expected path of the rocket to be launched by South Korea.
                 
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has received information from the Defense and Armed Forces Attaché in Seoul that the launch would be held on Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. (Philippine time).

“No sail zone, no fly zone, no fishing zone policy will be effective on [29th of] November and continuous monitoring is hereby advised,” NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos said in a bulletin Tuesday.

Ramos asked all concerned agencies to place their respective disaster operation centers under blue alert Wednesday (Nov. 28) and upgrade the status to red alert the following day.

A blue alert places half of disaster management personnel on standby. A red alert, meanwhile, requires all disaster management teams to monitor developments.

The ban will cover waters and air space off the Bicol provinces, Samar, Leyte, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

The “exclusion zone” will cover a 600 kilometer by 400 kilometer area about 540 nautical miles east of the Philippine eastern seaboard.

The policy would require airlines and shipping firms to implement rerouting schemes to ensure the safety of their passengers. Fishermen in affected areas have been advised to store enough food before the implementation of the fishing ban.

Last month, South Korea bared plans to launch a satellite into orbit as part of its scientific research program.

The Science and Technology Satellite-2 aboard Korea Space Launch Vehicle-I was supposed to originate from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeollanam-do.

The original window of the launch was Oct. 26 to 31 but this was deferred due to a fuel problem.

South Korea tried to launch the rocket on Nov. 9 but postponed it anew due to a technical glitch.

South Korea also tried to launch a similar rocket in 2009 and 2010 but failed.

The government is crafting contingency measures even if officials have given assurances that it is “highly unlikely” that the debris of the rocket would make a landfall.