Chinese Ship Damages Philippine Reef
March 6th, 2009, Cebu
A protected area near Talisay City, the Lagundi Reef, was destroyed when a Chinese cargo vessel ran aground in the area. The ship’s 25 Chinese crewmen headed by Capt. Chen Guang Ming, manned the 31,643-gross ton vessel, whose home port is Majuro, capital city of the Republic of the Marshall Island. Mr. Miing said that he did not realize he was in a protected coastal area.
Philippines Coast Guard officials estimated that half of Lagundi’s Reef’s protected corals were destroyed. Councilor Shirley Belleza, chairperson of the Tourism Heritage Council said that she will not let the incident pass...
She said that Ming had violated the ordnance after ramming his vessel on to a protected site, dropping his anchor and de-ballasting the vessel. A fine of P5,000 will be imposed.
MV United, a bulk carrier of Kamtchuka International Limited based in Athens, Greece, was supposed to anchor off Talisay City when it hit the shallow Bodo Shoal at 9:40 a.m., Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said.
“The ship nearly rammed a motorized boat carrying local divers who were installing buoys as a temporary demarcation line of Lagundi Reef, a protected fish sanctuary,” Tamayo said.
The local divers warned the ship that they were entering a protected area. “Sige nami'g shagit nga sanctuary ang ilang gi-a-gi-an (We shouted at them that they were passing by a sanctuary),” said Philmark Pableo, one of the divers.
“Sige nami'g shagit nga sanctuary ang ilang gi-a-gi-an (We shouted at them that they were passing by a sanctuary),” said Philmark Pableo, one of the divers.
But the vessel did not stop. Instead, it sounded a loud horn to the divers.
It only stopped when it reached a shallow part of the reef, about 20 feet.
“Nahibong lang mi nga nikalit man ug hunung ang barko. Nakabantay mi nga nagbuwa-buwa na ang iyang luyo. Didto na sila nasangad (We wondered why the vessel suddenly stopped. We noticed that water was bubbling up at the vessel's rear portion. The ship was already stranded),” Pableo said.
Pableo and his companions went ashore to report the incident to Anthony Natur, TCSLFA head, who in turn informed the police and barangay officials.
Natur and the Talisay police went to the vessel on board a rubber boat and asked to speak to Ming. They were refused.
Hours later, Ming allowed Natur and the policemen were to board the ship.
Later, they decided to raise the matter to Talisay City officials who decided to have Ming arrested.
Councilor Belleza said she had hoped to open the Lagundi Reef to divers on March 25, before the celebration of the Liberation Day on March 28.
But the councilor is now having second thoughts of opening the Lagundi Reef after the incident.
