Cebu City (ship)
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The Cebu City was a Filipino cargo and passenger ship that sank on December 2, 1994 after a collision with a container ship . 73 passengers and crew were killed and 41 people have been missing since then.
history
The collision
The Cebu City left on 2 December 1994 at 02:45 with passengers and cargo the port of Manila . The destinations of the trip were the ports of Tagbilaran and Ozamis . Around the same time, the Singapore-based Kota Suria container ship , built in 1976 for Hamburg Süd and carrying around 15,000 tons for the Pacific International Lines shipping company, headed for Manila Bay on the opposite course . The weather was clear, the sea calm and visibility was around six nautical miles .
At 4 o'clock the changing of the guard took place on the bridge of the Kota Suria . Among other things, the ship's position was determined by radar, but the traffic situation was not examined in detail. The relieved second officer stayed with the first officer on duty on the bridge. The first officer had the helmsman take over and switched from automatic steering to manual steering . The speed of about 14 knots was not reduced.
The handover of the watch to the first officer took place on Cebu City at this time, but the position of the ship, which is about 16 knots, was not determined. The numerous objects on the starboard ahead, visually and on the radar, including the later opponent in the collision, were indeed registered by the guard, but here too there was no control of the traffic situation that occurred when the watch was taken over.
A few minutes after the security handover noticed the first officer of the Kota Suria the Cebu City , changed shortly after the course by 20 degrees to starboard, trying on FM , the passenger ship to reach, but this did not answer.
Both ships collided between 04:10 and 04:20 . The hit Kota Suria the Cebu City about amidships on her starboard side. Both ships were jammed together for about half an hour before Cebu City broke up again and finally sank. During this time, 525 passengers and crew members were able to rescue themselves with the lifeboats or directly on board the Kota Suria . 73 people died, 41 more have been missing since then. No crew member on the Kota Suria was injured.
The investigation
An investigation by the Board of Marine Inquiry of the Philippine Coast Guard took place after the collision . The commission of inquiry found that both ships would have passed each other starboard to starboard had neither of them changed course. Furthermore, the commission saw the main part of the misconduct in the ship's command of the Kota Suria , but also found misconduct on the Cebu City . One discovery played a particularly prominent role in the investigation: the ship's command of the Kota Suria presented a falsified ship's diary and a different nautical chart than the one used at the time of the collision. Both of these significantly undermined the credibility of the statements made by the Kota Suria .
consequences
As early as 1987, after the sinking of the Doña Paz , an extended GMDSS surveillance of the sea area was introduced. After Cebu City sank near the collision point of the San Nicolas - Superferry 12 accident in Manila Bay, plans were drawn up for a traffic separation area . However, these have not yet been implemented. The maritime communications office (MCO) only recently started its work in this sea area.
Trivia
The Kota Suria , which was only relatively slightly damaged in the collision , remained in service after the incident and was only scrapped in 2003.
See also
Other shipping accidents in the waters of the Philippines since 1945:
- Mactan 1973
- Doña Paz 1987
- SuperFerry 14 2004
- Princess of the Stars 2008
literature
- Bossow, Günter: Mayday, Mayday ... ship accidents in the 80s and 90s. 1st edition. Pietsch Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-50320-4 .
Web links
- Research report Det Norske Veritas (PDF; 181 kB)
- Newspaper clipping Boca Raton News December 3, 1994
Individual evidence
- ↑ At Least 17 Die as Ferry Sinks In Manila Bay With 573 Aboard , New York Times, December 2, 1994. (English)
- ↑ Catalog of Philippine sea disasters ( August 9, 2009 memento in the Internet Archive ), The Sunday Times , July 6, 2008 (English).
- ^ Why Ships Collided Remains A Mystery , Orlando Sentinal , December 3, 1994.
- ↑ IMO Bulletin 2003 ( Memento of August 18, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
- ^ Equasis