Probe team finds Ormoc Port with no stevedores, arrastre

Ormoc City Jetty Port has ‘no’ designated stevedore and/or arrastre, an interim investigation report in the capsizing of the 33.58 gross-ton woodenhulled m/bca “kim Nirvana B” last July 2 revealed.

According to the probe team dispatched by Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), “instead, on-call laborers from the public market were hired in stowing the goods and cargoes.”

The probe team composed of personnel from Marina law enforcement unit noted, however, motorbancas plying the Ormoc-Pilar, Camotes Island route were situated outside the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) Ormoc Complex. Top maritime safety and security experts, however, aired a firm stand that such reason was unacceptable for passenger’s safety, stressing that ‘precisely in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Conference guidelines enunciated in the Manila Statement 2015 issued last April 24 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), these safety measures were well announced, discussed and adopted by IMO memberstates, including the Philippines.”

“We are calling the attention of PPA for such lapses of sort. Move now to prevent future accidents of such kind,” they said.

They said “common sense and judgment call must stand, hand in hand,” and there is no better option to take in any situation, imminent or remote, but “preventive steps to save life at all costs, even if some economic gains or financial profits were sacrificed. Business loss could be recovered, but life once lost, canno!”

The captain of the ill-fated Nirvana B, Mr. Warren L. Oliverio, its owner Mr. Joge Bung M. Zarco, and the 17 crew members who all survived the sea mishap, were all slapped with murder charges in Ormoc City Prosecutor’s Office. Lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office were tapped to assist the relatives of casualties and the injured.

MARINA, PCG and PNP reports showed 62 passengers were killed in the tragedy who were slated to receive

pay each ; and 147 were rescued, bringing to a total of 209 the number of persons on board the Pilar, Camotes Island-bound Nirvana B when the sea mishap took place, at around 12:15 pm last July 2, just barely around 100 meters away from the Ormoc Jetty Pert, its point of origin.