US Navy relieves USS Guardian commander, 3 others over Tubbataha incident

The United States Navy has relieved three crew members and the former commanding officer of the minesweeper USS Guardian, which ran aground on the world-famous Tubbataha Reef in Palawan and was stuck there for over two months until last week. In a report posted on The Navy Times on Thursday, the US Navy was quoted as saying that Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 7, has relieved from their posts USS Guardian commanding officer Lt. Cmdr. Mark Rice, second-in-command and navigator Lt. Daniel Tyler, the assistant navigator, and the officer standing watch at the time of the grounding. It said Navy officials refused to release the names of the other officers because of privacy laws. According to the report, an investigation showed that the four “did not adhere to standard U.S. Navy navigation procedures." "All four sailors were relieved by Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley due to their role in the grounding and a loss of confidence," the report quoted the Navy as saying in a statement. US officials have blamed the January 17 grounding on an error in a digital chart that incorrectly plotted the Tubbataha Reef, a designated World Heritage Site by the United Nations. The Navy Times said the officers have been temporarily assigned to ESG-7 pending the completion of the investigation. The development came as they were supposed to take charge of the ship that will replace the USS Guardian, the minesweeper Warrior, which reportedly arrived last week in a US facility in Sasebo, Japan. Earlier, US Navy officials were quoted as saying that they have already spent at least $48 million, or P1.8 billion, for the salvage work on the grounded minesweeper. Members of the Tubbataha Management Office have begun assessing the extent of the damage on the reef to determine how much the US will have to pay as compensation, which is so far pegged at a minimum ofP96 million. The salvage work on the USS Guardian was finally completed on March 30, two days earlier than the April 1 expected completion date set by the TMO, with the removal of the last part of the hull. — Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK/BM/HS, GMA News