Guimaras News

The death toll from the capsize of three Philippine ferries in bad weather rose to 31 on Sunday as rescuers found more bodies, a coast guard official said.The motorised, wooden-hulled boats were carrying a total 96 passengers and crew when harsh weather conditions caused the vessels to overturn off the central island of Guimaras and Iloilo provinces on Saturday.The search continues for three more people still missing, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said. The rest of the crew and passengers were rescued.Disaster officials reported 11 deaths on Saturday.Balilo said a third ferry was not carrying passengers and…

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) informed that the cargo volume in the country has registered a modest hike in the first seven months of the year despite the sluggish performances from almost all aspects of local and foreign trade.Latest data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) showed that Philippine cargo traffic totaled 147.271 million metric tons (MMT) in the January to July 2018 period or a 2% hike compared to the 144.412 MMT handled in the same period last year.The data also showed that foreign cargo throughput handled is at 87.639 MMT or some 1.64% higher than the figure posted a year earlier wherein import volume handled is at 53.654 MMT and export traffic at 33.985 MMT.

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, announces the successful commissioning of the submarine power cable link to connect Negros and Panay islands in the Philippines. This is the first stage of the project CNP-1 (Cebu-Negros-Panay phase 1), awarded to Prysmian Group by the Filipino grid operating company NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines). This project is part of a larger development plan provided by NGCP, to strengthen the Country’s power transmission network. “Prysmian was honored with the award of this project in December 2014 and it has been able to execute the whole works in accordance with the delivery schedule and budget thanks to the close cooperation of NGCP…

A pump boat carrying about 36 passengers  and five crew memberscapsized in Iloilo-Guimaras Strait  in central Philippines at around 4 p.m. on Sunday (October 18). According to the Philippine Coast Guard-Iloilo (PCG), the passenger motorboat with 41 people on board capsized in a storm, leaving seven dead and two others missing. "MB Tawash left Iloilo with 36 passengers and five crew members going to Guimaras when it was suddenly blown by strong winds in the middle of the sea causing it to capsize," says a statement from the Coast Guard. The incident was first responded by the Ocean Jet fast craft heading to Iloilo from Negros Occidental. Coast guard rescuers and passing vessels recovered 32 survivors. Among the dead were two boys aged 6 and 9 and two of the crew members.

Cargo ship MT King Andrew ran aground in Siete Picados, Guimaras, February 4 when strong winds and currents southwest off the Light Station forced the vessel off course, the Philippines Coastguard reported. The ship master said MT King Andrew departed Lapuz Wharf in Iloilo around 11 p.m. February 3 bound for Calaca, Batangas when they encountered unfavorable weather conditions. The ship was laden with roughly 1,480 metric tons of cane molasses and 21 crew when it ran aground. Upon being notified of the incident by the ship master, Coast Guard Station (CGS) Iloilo, Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) Dumangas and Marine Environmental Protection Unit-Western Visayas (MEPU-WV) personnel immediately proceeded to the area.

At around 5:50 a.m. on January 19, Philippine Coast Guard Station (CGS) Iloilo received a distress call from MV Sportivo, which was anchored at Iloilo Strait between Iloilo City and Guimaras, that the cargo vessel was sinking after it was drifted from her anchored position and collided with another vessel. Immediately, the PCG Rescue Teams dispatched to the scene of incident. Subsequently, all 29 crew members were rescued, brought to CGS Iloilo Compound, and provided with necessary relief and assistance. Likewise, the survivors were given medical attention/assistance by the Iloilo City Emergency Response (ICER) Team. Initial investigation revealed that around 5:15 a.m. while doing his routinely morning inspection around the ship, Capt.

The Philippines will ban single-hull oil tankers from its waters from April, two years earlier than planned, after the worst oil spill in the country's history and a separate leak in South Korea. Vessels carrying "black" petroleum products such as crude oil and bunker fuel won't be allowed to dock at ports from April 1 without a double hull, said Transportation Undersecretary Len Bautista in a phone interview from Manila. The single-hull crude oil supertanker Hebei Spirit caused the worst spill in South Korea's history last month after it was struck by a crane causing it to lose 66,000 barrels of crude oil, about 1/3 the size of the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989.

The Italian sub-sea construction service provider will begin offloading oil from the sunken tanker Solar 1 on March 14. Although Sonsub International expects the offloading to be an easy job, they assured that they have contingency plans in the event of another oil spill. Officials expect the offloading operations to last for about 25 days, but not shorter than 20 days, subject however to the amount of bunker fuel remaining in the ten cargo holds of Solar 1. It is estimated that by April 14, they will already be demobilizing their equipment. It's not that we want to stay any longer, we just want to ensure that each tank is empty of oil, he added. Sonsub will be bringing in Allied Shield for the operation, which will be conducted round the clock.

The Sun Star has reported that another spill of bunker fuel is feared to have happened in Guimaras seas in the Philippines after Coast Guard authorities discovered a motor tanker got stranded due to navigational problems Saturday. Coast Guard officials found the crewmen of M/T Petro Clarissa stuck in Siete Picados Saturday after the vessel suffered navigation problems. Coast Guard Deputy Commander Bon Dan Chan said the vessel, loaded with one million liters of regular fuel, was stranded. The suspected fuel had slicked. The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) will be conducting water inspection at the site to ascertain the suspicions of an oil slick. The 16 crewmen are to be interrogated for the reasons that why they got stranded in Guimaras.

The Manila Times reported that the Special Board of Marine Inquiry looking into the sinking of the tanker Solar 1 blamed the incident on overloading, bad weather and an incompetent ship captain. The findings of the board were released Thursday by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). The DOTC said the Solar 1’s captain, Norberto Aguro, the ship’s owner Sunshine Maritime Corp. and Petron are to be held liable for the sinking of the tanker that has resulted in the country’s worst environmental disaster. The sunken Solar 1 released close to half a million gallons of oil into the waters of Guimaras Strait. The oil has contaminated coastline in Guimaras and idled fishing communities.

According to Inq7.net, Philippine’s shipowners are asking for more time to replace their single-hull tankers with double-hull vessels because the capital and maintenance costs for the hardier vessels are higher. Single hull tankers, which are being phased out around the world, have become the subject of revived scrutiny in the country following the August 11 sinking of the weather-beaten MT Solar I off Guimaras Island. The sunken vessel unleashed a massive oil spill. Stakeholders in the shipping industry wanted the ban on single-hull vessels implemented in 2015. While some expect the ban to be enforced as early as 2008, others believe that more time will be required since shipowners are finding the transition from single-hull to double-hull too costly.

President Arroyo has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to identify "dedicated sea lanes" for tankers carrying oil and other hazardous chemicals to keep them away from "ecologically sensitive areas" and areas providing tourism and other livelihood opportunities, Manila Bulletin reported. Arroyo issued the directive in her second National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting on August 28 in Guimaras where she monitored the ongoing efforts to clean up and rehabilitate areas polluted by spilt oil from the sunken MT Solar I tanker. She will return to Guimaras on September 6 to convene another NDCC meeting during which the PCG will present its proposed dedicated sea lanes for tankers carrying oil and other chemicals.

A 15-man member of the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines is set to begin its three-day inquiry into the Guimaras oil spill to help the government address the problem in aid of legislation, tempo.com.ph reported. According to the committee, the main purpose of the probe is to determine how to assist the government in the task of cleaning up the oil mess and its surroundings, as well as to look into how the local government unit (LGU) could immediately respond in times of similar disasters. In the process of investigation, the probe body expects to interview Petron chairman Nicasio Alcantara and Sunshine Maritime Development Corp.

The team of Japanese experts who flew into the country to help assess the the damage caused by the sinking of the M/T Solar 1 and the resulting oil spill said oil continues to leak out from the tanker, a statement from the Japanese embassy said Tuesday. In Guimaras, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to conduct a full-blown inquiry into the August 11 sinking, which has led to widespread ecological damage and driven away tourists from the resorts of the island province. After a week of operations, the four-man Japan Disaster Relief Team recommended the continued and periodic aerial survey of the affected area to monitor any sudden changes in the amount of oil coming out of the tanker.

The Solar 1 tanker that sank off Guimaras Island is leaking more bunker fuel, thus adding to the spill that has already devastated the marine environment and affected coastal communities in the island and nearby provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the leakage started Monday night. According to official estimates, the tanker has already leaked 50,000 gallons of fuel and still has 450,000 gallons on several tanks on board, which could explode due to seawater corrosion. (Sunnex)

On recommendations of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Vice Admiral Arthur N. Gosingan, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro P. Mendoza formed yesterday a national board of marine inquiry (BMI) to conduct a thorough fact-finding investigation on the oil spill off Guimaras Island in Western Visayas — so far the biggest ever reported environmental disaster in the country. In a press conference held at the PCG headquarters in Port Area, Manila, Gosingan said the creation of the national BMI elevated from a special board of marine inquiry (SBMI) the status of the probe body. Mendoza named Coast Guard deputy commandant Rear Admiral Danilo A. Abinoja as the national BMI chairman.

Petron Corp. is negotiating with a Singaporean company to bring in advanced technology that would determine the exact location of the oil tanker that sank off Guimaras island and siphon off the remaining bunker oil still in the vessel. Lori Tan of the World Wide Fund said Petron, which chartered the ill-fated M/T Solar I, will bring in deep-sea contractors who will use a side scan zoner to determine the wreck’s actual location on the seabed, a remotely piloted submersible to find the leak, and hot tap to siphon the oil that is still contained in the tanker’s hold. Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes and Tan believe the cleanup might take two years if all the needed technology and assistance arrive soon.

A barge carrying hundreds of tonnes of debris from last August's devastating oil spill in the Philippines has sunk. BBC reported that the barge was being towed to a processing plant when it sank in rough seas, raising fears of another environmental crisis. The barge was being towed to a processing plant when it sank in rough seas, raising fears of another environmental crisis. Officials say the crew has been rescued, and that they are investigating the incident. The Solar 1, was carrying two million litrer of oil when it sank near the Guimaras island on 11 August. The spill affected 40,000 people and hundreds of miles of coastline. The barge, hired by oil refiner Petron, was carrying sludge from the site where the Solar 1 sank.

The Coast Guard and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources yesterday were racing against time to prevent a major environmental disaster as oil seeped from a tanker that sank between Guimaras and Negros Islands Friday. The spill is threatening marine life and the tourism industry of Western Visayas, officials said, and moving closer to Negros Occidental. The Coast Guard in Bacolod had a Marine Environment Protection Unit, assisted by trained personnel of oil firms in the province, on standby to set up spill booms in case the oil slick approaches Negros, to help prevent its entry into the area, Chief Petty Officer Cornelio Barbasa said.