DOTr grounds Aleson fleet over Basilan ferry tragedy
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has grounded the entire passenger fleet of Aleson Shipping Lines, owner of MV Trisha Kerstin 3 which sank off the waters of Basilan province on Monday, pending investigation of the incident.
In a briefing in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez directed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to conduct a maritime safety audit of all ships owned by Aleson as well as its crew members within 10 days.
He then gave PCG 15 days to complete a “full-blown” investigation into the incident, noting that the results would determine whether the shipping line would be allowed to resume its operations.
At least 18 died and more than 300 others were rescued after the Sulu-bound ferry sank off Baluk-Baluk Island in Hadji Muhtamad town, Basilan, early Monday. At least 10, most of them crew members, remained missing as of Tuesday.
The crew had sent a distress signal around 1 a.m. on Monday, reporting “serious technical problems” before being battered by strong waves, causing the ferry to sink.
Lopez said there was a need to look into every angle of what happened and “we need to determine the accountability of all parties—whether it’s the government or the shipowners.”
“If the investigation shows that the government had shortcomings, rest assured we will take action, fire those responsible, and file the appropriate cases,” he said. “The same goes for the shipowners: if the investigation reveals that they have shortcomings, they should expect the full force of the law.”
Lopez said President Marcos “has repeatedly emphasized that maritime safety is neither negotiable nor optional.”
“Profit and business considerations remain secondary to this objective. Maritime safety shall always be the paramount and primordial concern of this administration,” he added.
32 incidents since 2019
Lopez noted that their records showed that Aleson’s vessels have been involved in 32 maritime incidents since 2019, the latest being the sinking of Trisha Kerstin 3.
Almost three years ago, its vessel MV Lady Mary Joy 3, caught fire while traveling to Jolo, Sulu, with over 200 passengers. At least 30 passengers died during the incident.
“So, I’m asking Marina, what did we do for the last how many years? Where are the reports? What are our lapses?” Lopez said.
He also asked Marina to conduct a maritime safety audit of the entire domestic fleet in the country following the Basilan sea tragedy.
Lopez admitted that there may be a need to reexamine current policies and how these are enforced. He said the investigation would “not just [be] after who is responsible,” but would also determine “how to move forward, how to institutionalize policies so it won’t happen again.”
Sea conditions
With the grounding of Aleson’s fleet, Lopez ordered Marina to issue special permits to qualified shipping companies to ply its routes.
But for routes where Aleson was the sole provider, the DOTr asked the PCG to provide free rides in the meantime.
The DOTr’s actions came following calls for a thorough investigation of the roll-on, roll-off vessel’s sinking by several passengers who disputed earlier claims by coast guard officials that the boat encountered rough sea conditions.
One of the passengers, Jun Guro, in an interview aired by a radio station owned by the Isabela City government in Basilan, said the incident needed to be carefully investigated “because the weather wasn’t even bad.”
“Why did it sink when there was no storm? An investigation into Aleson is needed,” said Guro.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Aquino Sajili, a lawyer who survived after floating for hours amid darkness, said the tragedy “demands more than sympathy.”
“It calls for a thorough, independent, and transparent investigation, preferably through a legislative inquiry,” Sajili, who heads the Muslim Lawyers Group in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, pointed out.
“The incident occurred under calm sea conditions, in the absence of any storm or extraordinary natural force. When a passenger vessel sinks in such conditions, the possibility of operational failure, regulatory lapse, or negligence cannot be ignored and must be squarely examined,” said Sajili, who traveled with a client to Jolo for a court hearing.
‘Explosion’
“It is a plea born of loss, faith, and responsibility. Maritime transport is a lifeline for our people in Mindanao and the islands. When that lifeline fails, and lives are lost, we owe the victims more than words—we owe them justice and reform,” he added.
Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso, himself a seafarer who married into the Tan family which owns Aleson, said that based on his investigation, some lashings used to tie vehicles (rolling cargoes) transported by the ship might have loosened or snapped.
He noted that many survivors mentioned about a strong “explosion” or a “bang” that preceded the listing of the boat, suggesting that such sound may have come from the lashings.
“When those snap, the impact is loud. It’s likely [that] these broke and gave way and that caused the vehicles to collide. That was probably the source of the commotion and noise people heard. It really is loud when metal or steel hits steel,” Olaso told reporters in Zamboanga.
The mayor said that based on accounts he gathered, the boat was not able to recover from the sudden listing, until it sank.
Most survivors mentioned about the sinking at just past 1 a.m. on Monday.
In a radio interview in Isabela, another survivor, Alnadjer Muarip, said they were rescued around 2 a.m. “But we were actually in the water for a long time; even though the rescuers were already there, it took a while to get us out because there were so many of us,” he recalled.
Search continues
Muarip traveled with his pregnant wife Dernalyn and their child Sarpa but they have yet to be found. “[When the ship sank], we got separated as they lost their grip on me,” he said.
In the Zamboanga briefing, Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan, PCG commandant, said six technical divers arrived from Metro Manila and would be able to begin the search and rescue operations by Wednesday.
More technical divers are expected to arrive on Wednesday, and a remotely operated vehicle will also be deployed to support the search operations.
“We will check the ship. [It is] 76 meters (249 feet) below; that is very deep. We will see if there are people who are trapped there, including the captain,” Gavan said.
He said that oil dispersants and oil spill booms had been prepared in case the diesel oil carried by the sunken passenger ship continued to spread, although he said only a thin oil sheen in the area had been monitored so far through an aerial survey.
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