The perhaps poorly named MV Double Prosperity, loaded with 65,000 tons of coal, grounded on Bakud Reef on Sunday in Sarangani Bay in the Philippines.
Stranded ship threatens Philippine reef
A foreign cargo ship is stranded on a protected coral reef in the southern Philippines and may be stuck for three weeks, raising fears of environmental damage, authorities said on Thursday.
The Panamanian-registered MV Double Prosperity was carrying about 65,000 tonnes of coal from Australia to India when it hit Bakud Reef on Sunday, regional coast guard commander Roy Echeverria told AFP.
About three-quarters of the 225-metre-long (743-foot-long) ship is stuck on the reef and it is lying in barely two metres of water, making the task of refloating it very difficult, he said.
“Weather permitting… the ship may be extricated within more or less three weeks,” he said, adding it would also take time to bring in specialist equipment.
Echeverria said there were concerns the ship’s fuel may start leaking, and inflatable oil spill booms had been brought into the area as a precaution, although there were no signs this had yet occurred.
Why did the collier, which was bound for India, run aground in Sarangani Bay in Mindanao, the southern Philippines? A highly placed source tells me that the all-Filipino crew wanted to watch the Pacquio-Mosley boxing match. To get a better signal for their TV set, the ship sailed toward Mindanao and was put on auto-pilot whilst the master and the rest of the crew enjoyed the televised spectacle. Three-fourths of the ship’s bottom skidded across the reef. The master and the other officers should have their licenses suspended or even revoked.
This makes me want to either laugh or cry, I’m not sure which. The best systems and tools are easily defeated by human folly.
As always, thanks for your comment.
I inadvertently misspelled the Filipino boxer’s name – it should be ‘Pacquiao.’
At the moment it doesn’t look like there will be a Board of Marine Inquiry although I do know that a local salvor has been hired to extricate the ship from the reef. Let’s see what happens next. I’ll let you know if I get new information.
I’ve just posted an article in Marine Cafe Blog about the incident:
http://marine-cafe.com/mcblog/?p=4023
the government not only the LGU should take focus on dis.. what the hell do we care if they are from foreign countries.. the most important thing is that they will give justice to d destroyed coral reef.. imagine we are from one kingdom:animalia.. if they give justice to the magindanao massacre victims( i assumed they have one)why not to those poor animals.. trying to live in the dynamic ocean..there like killing other organism..shark.. dolphins.. humans..