Coast Guard: Sealift most feasible way to remove US ship from Tubbataha

January 23, 2013 1:48pm


Philippine and US authorities are looking into the possibility of using a crane to safely extricate the US Navy ship that ran aground and is currently stuck in the delicate Tubbataha Reef.

"Ang pinaka-feasible ay i-sealift, base sa recommendation. Pero we are waiting for the assessment," said Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo in an interview aired on GMA News TV's “News To Go” Wednesday.

Balilo said the crane will lift the stuck 68-meter-long USS Guardian from the reef and place it in deeper water.

Aside from this method, authorities are also looking into the possibility of pulling the ship from the delicate reefs as earlier recommended by Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.

Cutting the ship into three pieces is also a possibility, Balilo said without elaborating.
 


"Doon sa tatlong options na 'yon, parang ang kiling nila ay magkaroon ng sealift operations. Titignan natin mamaya kapag makarating na 'yung mga reports dito at saka maga-assess ulit ang Task Force Tubbataha kung ano ang pinakamabuti," he said.

With weather conditions expected to worsen in the area over the next few days, authorities are running against time to extract the ship from the Tubbataha Reef, a marine protected area and also a World Heritage Site.

Balilo said both US and Philippine Coast Guard have deployed an underwater team to access the ship as basis to the salvage operation of the ship.

Oil spill boom

Meanwhile, although there were no signs of oil spill yet, the Philippine Coast Guard and its US counterpart have agreed to dry-run the placement of the oil spill booms in the area.

"Sakaling tumagas ang oil spill, 'yung dalawang barko from the US and the Philippine Coast Guard would be in coordination kung papaano ilalatag ang oil spill boom doon," Balilo said.

"Kasama sa procedure iyon, nakahanda palagi ang oil spill boom lalung-lalo na kung may salvage operations," he added.

"Mayroon ding pagkilos na tatanggalin ang langis mula sa main vessel at ililipat sa salvage vessel, so dapat nakahanda rin po ang ating mga tauhan na maglagay ng oil spill boom kung kinakailangan."

Balilo ensured that caution will be observed during the salvage operations.

"In as much as gusto nating maging mabilis sana ang pag-salvage operation, pero nagiging cautious, nagiging maingat tayo sa mga hakbangin na dapat gawin para maialis ang sumadsad na barko," he said.

"The bottomline is, we're trying to see to it na less ang damage sa kahit anong operation ang gagawin dito sa barko," he added. — Amanda Fernandez/KBK, GMA News