Coral-wrecker ship scheming to flee Philippine jurisdiction

By SERAFIN RAMOS JR.

ALABEL, Sarangani (July 11, 2011) – Salvaging operations that refloated an overseas cargo vessel from Bacud Reef ruined almost a hectare of corals, or an area four times the initial damage caused by the ship’s agrounding on May 8.

MV Double Prosperity, twice the length of a football field, was pulled out by Malayan Towage & Salvage Corporation on June 11 after at least 11 attempts to refloat it, and was brought to Bunawan, Davao City, under the custody of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

The Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) of Sarangani Province, represented by Gov. Migs Dominguez, has filed a complaint in intervention in order to establish the negligence of the vessel’s crew, and to eventually establish damage to marine protected area. The PAMB invoked the powers of the PCG to investigate the factual cause of a maritime incident and its authority to protect the environment – all provided under the PCG Law or RA 9993.

Experts of the provincial government have conducted a second survey of Bacud Reef on June 21-24 and found out that from the damage of more or less 2,000 sq.m., the area damaged is now more or less 8,000 sq.m..

“The experts attributed this vast new damage to the salvage operations of the towage company, Malayan Towage, because instead of merely pulling the vessel out, they moved the boat on all directions until they dragged it to the deeper portion of the reef, which caused more damage to the area of the reef,” said Atty. Arnel Zapatos, provincial legal officer.

Zapatos disclosed that the same salvage company made “collateral demands” before the PCG, for the transfer of the vessel from Bunawan, Davao City to Malalag, Davao del Sur, “citing as a reason that it is not possible for them to repair the vessel in Bunawan.”

However, the salvor is not a party of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry which is now conducting investigation of the case.

“We found out that the real reason why the salvor wanted to transfer the vessel to Malalag is for it to repair the vessel immediately,” Zapatos bared. “It will then precede for the vessel to leave the Philippine jurisdiction.”

The PAMB and the parties have yet to make a final amicable settlement.

The lawyer said the SBMI has yet to finish its recommendation – “whether or not the vessel is factually guilty of negligence? And whether or not in the exercise of environment protection, the PCG can hold the vessel until it renders payment.”

Zapatos deplored the act of the salvor as “very much out of order because its request had been done parallel to the SBMI proceedings causing an unauthorized intrusion to the integrity of the SBMI.”

Zapatos said the PAMB has formally filed its letter-protest to the acts of the salvor before the Commander of PCG District Southeastern Command Commodore Eduardo Gongona.

The lawyer said the PAMB of Sarangani is establishing a lien over the vessel in order to compel the vessel’s owner to compensate the Province about its environmental damage.

Bacud Reef is one of the few sites in the Philippines where the endangered Mameng lives. Its density and fish biomass of reef fishes is comparable with Tubbataha Reefs. Tubbataha is the Philippines' first national marine park and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a place of global importance being preserved for future generations.

The initial assessment data conducted in May 2011 for Bacud Reef showed an estimated fish biomass of 81 mt/km2.

“The reef areas in Kiamba are one of the few sites in the Philippines where Mameng (Napoleon wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus) was sighted. This species was also seen in Bacud Reef during the rapid assessment conducted in May 2011. Napoleon wrasse is one of the most valuable fish in the international live reef food fish trade because of its taste and rarity that lead to its high demand and retail prices. In 2010, it was declared as an Endangered species under the IUCN Red List of Threatened species,” according to a research paper by Cleto L. Nañola Jr. of the University of the Philippines and Rina Maria P. Rosales of the Resources, Environment and Economics Center for Studies, Inc..

Nañola said the estimated fish biomass of 81.66 mt/km2 in Bacud Reef falls under “very high category” (fish biomass greater than 41 mt/km2) based from the current classification of reef fish biomass for the country.

Bacud is an offshore reef situated 7 km. from the shore and covers an area of approximately 141,466 m2. The area falls under NIPAS (National Integrated Protected Area System) through Presidential Proclamation Number 756 promulgated in 1996. In 2006, Bacud Reef was declared by the local government unit of Kiamba as restricted multiple-use area wherein only marginalized hook and line fishing is allowed.

A damaged reef takes time to recover and is highly dependent on various factors that are detrimental to its recovery such as siltation, nutrient input, crown of thorn infestation, physical state of conditions, and its current state as either overfished or not.

Nañola and Rosales said reefs with some coral fragments surviving after the damage may take 10 years to recover. But for severely damaged reefs, it may take more than 20 years to recover.

“The PAMB Sarangani Province stand is clear: we continue the SBMI, and pending the SBMI the vessel should be in the custody by the PCG in Bunawan, Davao City, in order to ensure that the Province will get what is due them for the environmental destruction that the vessel caused the marine protected area of Sarangani Province,” Zapatos said. (Serafin Ramos Jr./SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)