Cell phone ‘dead spot’ hampers search for sea tragedy victims

Aside from bad weather, cell phone “dead spots" continue to hamper efforts to find survivors and bodies from a roll-on-roll-off vessel that ran aground in Quezon province Thursday. Lt. Col. Roderick Parayno, spokesman of the military’s Southern Command, said Saturday that the situation forced rescue workers to use the military’s communication network in the area. “Sa shoreline walang signal ang cell phone. We established a link using military equipment, ang contact natin via military communication (There’s no cell phone signal at the shoreline. We established a link using military equipment, so our communications are via military communication)," Parayno said in an interview on dzXL radio. He said the Southern Command sent in specialized Navy divers and equipment to help rescue and retrieve passengers from the MV Blue Water Princess. But he said the divers admitted having difficulty finding bodies because the waves were very strong. On the other hand, he said stormy weather in the area made it hard for them to get near the shore. “Malakas din ang ulan, ang daanan masyadong naging maputik. Ang iba nag-travel by foot. Malaking delay sa nagta-travel sa lugar (Rains are very heavy, and the area is muddy. Many had to travel by foot, and this caused much delay)," he said. Parayno said the rescuers expect to have an easier time finding survivors and bodies Saturday morning, now that typhoon “Bebeng" has left Philippine territory. He said “Bebeng" enhanced the rainy weather in the area. For his part, Coast Guard commandant Admiral Damian Carlos said initial findings showed the MV Blue Water Princess appeared to have complied with safety standards. But Carlos said he expects the Coast Guard in Southern Luzon to turn over an initial report on the incident by Sunday at the earliest. “Palagay ko ito kanilang sinunod. Tingnan namin isang angulo na pwedeng masama ang panahon (I am inclined to believe they complied with safety measures. I think one angle is that the weather was bad)," he said. In turn, he said the bad weather may have caused the captain to miscalculate or make a wrong decision. “Kung ang kapitan nagkaroon ng miscalculation at ang panahon paiba-iba at magkamali sa decision sa navigation ito maaring maging sanhi ng aksidente (If the captain can miscalculate because the weather conditions are changing too quickly, it can result in an accident)," he said. Thus far, Carlos said there does not appear to be any indication of overloading, as the 126 survivors, 11 dead and five missing are “way, way below" the ill-fated RORO vessel’s authorized capacity of 256 passengers. Meanwhile, Carlos said the Coast Guard has sent special operations group (SOG) operatives to the site to watch out for possible oil spills. He said the Coast Guard SOG personnel have instructions to check the vessel’s oil tanks for signs of rupturing. “Kasama yan sa survey, kung mga oil tank may danger na mabutas at magbigay ng oil spill (I told them to survey the vessel to see if the oil tanks could rupture and lead to an oil spill)," he said. - GMANews.TV