THE two companies that own the vessels involved in the Cebu sea mishap over the weekend will have to explain to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) their positions on the case, as the agency aims to avoid a similar incident in the future.
In a news statement issued on Tuesday, the maritime regulator said it is issuing separate show- cause orders to Eastern Shipping Services Inc. and Concrete Solutions Inc.—owners of the MV Eastern Endeavour and LCT Poseidon 29, respectively—to demand for explanation on the collision accident that happened in Mactan, Cebu, on Saturday.
Based on initial reports cited by Marina, the Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) in Cebu radioed the inbound vessel MV Eastern Endeavour while it was transiting along the Cebu-Mactan Channel abeam Shell Island, informing its crew that an outbound vessel LCT Poseidon 29 was transiting southbound.
MV Eastern Endeavour, then, supposedly requested a port-to-port passage with LCT Poseidon 29, advising the latter to maneuver and stay on hard port rudder to increase its closest point of approach.
However, because of the close proximity between the involved vessels, they collided against each other.
MV Eastern Endeavour is a general cargo vessel that has a gross tonnage of 6,269. It is based in Manila. LCT Poseidon 29, on the other hand, is a cargo vessel with a gross tonnage of 965, and is based in Tacloban City.
No injury was reported, and both ships were able to berth safely by night time.
“To date, the Marina is closely coordinating with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Cebu Port Authority to improve the operation of Cebu’s VTMS to avoid the occurrence of similar maritime accidents in the future,” the Marina statement read.