Rains delay retrieval of toxic cargo in 'Princess'
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/23/2008 11:22 PM
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The retrieval operations of the toxic cargo in the sunken MV Princess of the Stars being conducted at San Fernando, Romblon has been delayed anew.
Continuous rains caused the collapse of two bridges connecting the town to the site of the shipwreck, which compounded the problems faced by the salvor firm, Titan.
The only activity that they could perform on Tuesday was to check the moors connecting the "Big Time" barge, their working platform beside the sunken ship, and see if these were still intact and the anchors secure.
The start of the retrieval operations was slated a week ago, but due to bad weather, they were not able to proceed.
In a press briefing at Camp Rabago, the base camp of Titan and their Philippine counterpart, Harbor Star, officials said day one of the actual retrieval operations will be a survey dive.
Harbor Star Capt. Robert Aris said they will have to determine which part of the ship will be the entry point for the equipment and the divers.
Once they have determined which part of the ship will be targeted as the access point, they will begin extraction of the chemicals.
Sulpicio Lines assistant vice-president James Go said the top priority is the removal of all the dangerous cargo and the bunker oil.
If by chance the team happens to come across a body or the remains of one of the bodies inside the ship, Aris said they will retrieve it.
Mr. Go stated that all of the recovered remains would be bagged and stored at a Sulpicio ship here at the site once operations begin.
All of the collected remains will be brought Cebu as previously done.
However, when asked how the families of the tragedy will be able to identify the remains of the relatives, Go said the task force and the local government unit will provide information on the process.
When all of the chemicals are recovered, they will be placed in a containment unit on board the "Big time" barge and will be turned over to Sulpicio.
Mr. Go could not say what Sulpicio intends to do with the cargo.
There are 51 people at Camp Rabago, composed chemists, divers, and ship experts. Twenty-six are from Titan, and 25 from Harbor Star,
Task Force Princess of the Stars, headed by Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista appointed the two companies to do the salvage work with four objectives:
Remove the hydrocarbons and the diesel oil;
Remove the dangerous cargo, the endosulfan and the "Bayer" chemicals;
Retrieve the remains of the crew and passengers;
Remove the wreck.
