CEBU CITY — The two ships that collided off Lauis Ledge near Talisay City on Thursday night have yet to submit their respective marine protests, delaying the start of the investigation into the accident.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) 7 (Central Visayas) spokesperson, Lt. Junior Grade Mike Encina, said Saturday both skippers of M/V Ocean United and M/V FastCat M11 need to submit their marine protests as these are vital in their investigation since these will contain the statements of the sea captains explaining why and how the collision occurred.
Cargo ship Ocean United and passenger vessel FastCat M11 collided past 8 p.m., injuring four passengers who were brought to the hospital with bruises and fractures.
Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corp., operator of FastCat, said in a statement Friday afternoon that they were conducting their own investigation although they could not be faulted for the incident.
“We would like to emphasize that (although apparently the cause of the incident could not be attributed to our vessel), it is an important concern for us to identify the root cause so that we can take steps to prevent, if not eliminate the same from happening again as we strive to uphold the thrust of our company to put safety at the forefront,” the Archipelago management said.
Encina said the root cause was apparently human error, but it has yet to be established which of the two vessels was at fault.
The PCG-7 spokesman said the collision happened because one of the vessels was most likely out of its designated passage route or lane.
FastCat M11 was bound for Tubigon, Bohol with 70 passengers and 12 rolling cargoes on board, while Ocean United of Oceanic Shipping Lines was en route to Cebu City from Talisay when the collision took place. (Luel Galarpe/PNA)
