Marine death toll hits 10,000 in ten years

Citation

Almazan, A. (2000), "Marine death toll hits 10,000 in ten years", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 9 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2000.07309dab.006

Marine death toll hits 10,000 in ten years

Marine death toll hits 10,000 in ten years

At least 168 vessels were lost in marine accidents in the Philippines at a cost of 10,000 lives and over Peso 50billion ($1.3billion) over the past six years.

That is the conclusion of Akira Matsuya who is in charge of a maritime safety programme of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in the Philippines.

The official said that the figures were culled from Philippine Coast Guard data. He noted, however, that the figures are likely understated. "Many cases, particularly the less sensational ones, have gone unreported," he said.

Safety awareness

Mr Matsuya blamed the country's poor safety record on the lack of safety awareness among local ship-owners and the shortage of navigation aids in this archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.

He said that this lack of safety consciousness is underscored by local ship-owners' practice of carrying out structural alterations on second-hand vessels purchased overseas. "This is done to increase the vessel's passenger and cargo capacity.

"These adjustments, however, can affect the vessel's stability and balance and thus have a direct impact on seaworthiness," Mr Matsuya said.

The Maritime Industry Authority which regulates the local maritime industry reported recently that over 80 per cent of domestic ships have been rendered out of class because of these alterations.

Also contributing to the high rate of ship accidents is the tendency of Filipino ship-owners to keep their ships at sea in poor weather rather than lose money keeping them in.

"Some ship-owners even order the masters of their ships to leave port during stormy weather despite their objections," he noted. Another major cause of maritime accidents in the Philippines is the shortage of navigational aids and the poor condition of existing facilities.

Ideally, the Philippines, which has a coastline longer than the United States, should have six to seven lighthouses per 100km of coastline. This translates into 1,200 light stations to adequately cover most of the country's sea routes. The Philippines, however, has only 459 lighthouses of which about 54 are not in use because of poor maintenance or lack of spare parts.

Mr Matsuya said that Japan is now providing technical and funding support to improve the Philippines' country-wide system of navigational aids. An on-going project funded by Japan's Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund had helped the Philippines rehabilitate and upgrade 39 lighthouses, acquire a newly-built lighthouse tender, establish a buoy depot at Sangley Point in Cavite and installed two radar beacons.

Another project is a Japan International Co-operation Agency sponsored training programme providing Philippine Coast Guard personnel technical skills in operating and maintaining the country's lighthouses. The three-year programme which Mr Matsuya heads will be completed in November this year. He pointed out, however, that much more needs to be done in instilling safety consciousness in the domestic shipping industry and improving the maritime safety infrastructure in the country.

Alec AlmazanLloyd's Casualty Week, Vol. 317, No. 10, September 3, 1999.