FLASHBACK ON SULPICIO'S FATAL FAILURES

The Philippine Star
06/15/09

On June 21, the shipping tragedy that is M/V Princess of the Stars will be marking its first year. More than 500 people had perished, many never perhaps to be recovered, including its captain, Florencio Marimon.

Its deadly cargo of highly toxic chemicals and its fuel supply have been salvaged, but the capsized seven-story ship still rests on a bed of coral reefs off the shoreline of Sibuyan Island, its jutted bottom hull a grim and haunting reminder of the incident.

BMI cites fatal failures

On August 25 last year, the five-member Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) released its findings apparently pinning the blame of the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars on Cebu-based shipping company, Sulpicio Lines, Inc. (SLI), and its missing captain.

Among its findings include six deadly failures, as follows:

- failure to discourage the captain from sailing into the storm despite the raising of typhoon signal number 3;

- failure to assess the danger posed by typhoon “Frank”;

- failure to monitor the condition of the vessel, its passengers and cargo, and to inform the authorities immediately when the company lost contact with its ship, thus delaying rescue efforts;

- failure to implement effectively its own quality and safety management system;

- failure to determine the stability of the vessel prior to departure; failure to employ a qualified safety manager on shore and an able-bodied chief engineer (instead of 81-year-old Chief Engineer Mario Nunez);

- and failure to determine the exact number of passengers and crew of the ship before departure.

Cancelled trips

Of particular interest in the BMI report was the discussion on how the M/V Princess of the Stars could have capsized, taking into consideration the fact that seven other vessels left Manila at around the same time, only to cancel their voyages or to seek shelter en route because of the severity of the weather.

“Four vessels – M/V ACC-9, M/M SF Star, M/V Sulcon XII and M/T Bagungon – decided to cancel their voyage. Three (other) vessels which sailed – M/V Our Lady of Good Voyage, M/V Superferry 19 and M/V Senhora de Fatima – took shelter in Balayan and Batangas Bay.

“The actions of the Masters of these vessels only showed that they have a full appreciation of the danger if they continued with their voyage. Although they were (also) cleared to sail, they did not dare go in the vicinity of the typhoon. It was only the Princess of the Stars that continued her voyage and was caught (in) the typhoon in the process,” the BMI report said.

One of the above-mentioned ships, Sulcon XII, is owned by Sulpicio Lines and was also bound for Cebu, taking the exact same route as the ill-starred Princess of the Stars on the same day. Yet it cancelled its voyage while the Princess went ahead and sailed into the eye of “Frank.”

Free surface effect

On the probable cause of the Princess’ listing which led to its capsizing, page 34 of the BMI report says this: “The probable cause of the listing of the vessel to port (or left-hand side) is the free surface effect caused by the sudden change of the wind direction and the waves that continuously hit the starboard (or right) side of the vessel. The free surface effect greatly reduced the vessel's (ability to right itself).

“Such severe listing can easily happen with a combination of strong winds and big waves and permanent shifting of cargo to one side. The cargo-securing devices may have loosened up or broken due to the severe pitching and rolling,” the report said.

The deadly phenomenon that the BMI is talking about has to do with the sudden shifting of cargo or the entry of large amounts of water while the vessel was turning. This caused a serious loss of stability that tipped the Princess over.

Even if a small amount of water enters a vessel, if loosed cargo suddenly shifts to one side, a ship not only rocks violently to one side, but will rock back stronger the other way, as well, as the water or the cargo gathers momentum.

The shifting water – or the unleashed cargo – quickly makes the ship unstable and can capsize it within a short space of time. This phenomenon is what is known as the free surface effect.

The BMI said it learned that the Princess first listed to port by 15 degrees at the height of the typhoon, but “the free surface effect ... together with a the sudden change of wind direction and the big waves ... caused the vessel to list permanently by 40 degrees to port” before it capsized on its left side.

This final listing put the windows of the Princess's C deck (which Sulpicio added to the original Japanese ship's design) under water, flooding the inside of the ship and causing it to capsize, according to the report. According to the BMI, the windows on the controversial deck – where many of the 800 fatalities were trapped – were not watertight.

These aspects of the report point out two issues that have been often overlooked in reports about the disaster: 1) that the latest Sulpicio Lines incident should be probed further to find out if the improper lashing or securing of its cargo helped cause the capsizing; and 2) if the company's decision to add another deck in the vessel to accommodate more passengers could have led to the disaster as well.

MARINA ’S failure to act

The government, particularly the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) which regulates the shipping industry, should heed and immediately implement the recommendations of the BMI, which include:

- considering the suspension of the certificate of public conveyance (or franchise) of Sulpicio Lines, in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations;

- reviewing the compliance of the company and to audit its safety systems;

- investigating four counts of erroneous entries in the issued Certificate of Stability of M/V Princess of the Stars;

- conducting a formal investigation of the loading of endosulfan by Del Monte Philippines and other toxic cargo as soon as possible; and

- conducting an audit regarding the approval of the modification of the wagon deck or C-deck of M/V Princess of the Stars into a passenger accommodation.

It has been almost 10 months since the BMI released its findings. No decisive concrete action so far has been taken. How many more sea disasters and how many more lives will be lost before maritime officials act and justice is served.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.