Sulpicio still undecided on re-floating ‘Princess’

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly a month after this year’s worst sea tragedy so far, officials of Sulpicio Lines Inc. have yet to decide whether to re-float the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars. "There are plans for re-floating or mere cargo retrieval…but again, we have always indicated that we have to cover all angles," said lawyer Vic-Vic Florido, Sulpicio Lines spokesperson, on the sidelines of Monday’s Board of Marine Inquiry hearing in Manila. "We could not just embark on it without covering all angles. At this time, we have to be sure…doubly sure about what we are going to do," Florido added. At present, Florido said they have been consulting with technical experts as regard the "characteristics" and nature of the substances that are still inside the capsized vessel. "There are conflicting findings with respect to those substances and it would be good, the process would be a lot easier and faster if all parties concerned would come to the discussion table," Florido said. "The information (that) we need is the nature of substances and how to handle that because the technical guys cannot be left second guessing. There’s no official statement how to do it, how to retrieve it from the sea," she added. On June 21, big waves spawned by typhoon “Frank" forced MV Princess of the Stars to capsize off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province. As of July 3, statistics from the Philippine Coast Guard and the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said a total of 259 have been confirmed dead, 56 had survived the tragedy while over 500 others are still listed as missing. At the time of the tragedy, MV Princess of the Stars had 866 people aboard. Retrieval operations were stopped following the discovery that the vessel was carrying 10 metric tons of endosulfan, a highly toxic pesticide. The government had likewise ordered a fishing ban on affected areas near the capsized vessel. - GMANews.TV