Demand letter sent to owner of ship that ran aground

CEBU, Philippines - The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office has demanded a letter of guarantee from Asian Marine Transport Corporation, the owner of the shuttle ferry that ran aground last Friday causing damage to a marine protected area in Hilantagan Island, Sta. Fe Cebu.

PENRO Senior Environmental Management specialist Romel Tirit said that the marine sanctuary was greatly affected and damaged, especially because the portion affected was rich in corals. However, they are still not sure on the exact amount of the damage caused by the vessel.

"Based sa initial nga assessment dako jud ang damage, although wa pa gyud ko kabalo unsa ka dako, but ofcourse it really caused dako nga damage kay ni ground gyud ang shuttle ferry," Tirit said.

For now, Tirit said an assessment on the damage in the area is being done to assist the local government of Sta. Fe.

He said requiring Asian Marine Transport Corporation for a letter of undertaking which will serve as a guarantee letter on the company's faithful and immediate compliance to any damage claims from the incident, will also play a big part in planning for the rehabilitation of the marine protected area.

"The next thing jud natong buhaton ani is i-pull-out na siya (the vessel) then i-assess ang damage then bayaran na sa shipping company," Tirit said.

 "Una, sila'y naka cause og damage, and then there was really a negligence sa ilang part. The fact nga naanod na diha, that means wa nila na maayo og anchor ang vessel," he disclosed.

They sent the demand letter though fax to Asian Marine Transport Corporation last Tuesday. However, they still did not get any reply from the company's owner who is out of town at the moment.  PENRO is still waiting for the results of the assessment by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the LGU, which will be due next week.

"In our part we will come out with a restoration plan. Usually man gud ang effect sa damage done by grounding kay lisod jud kaayo, very unlikely nga mabalik na siya sa iyang original nga state, there has to be interventions na gyud," Tirit said.

Possible intervention and rehabilitation plans, Tirit said, is to stabilize the substrate so that corals would grow back and increase the protected area. (FREEMAN)