The owner of a capsized ferry said Friday it will file charges against the Philippines' weather agency for alleged belated information of the change of course of typhoon Fengshen that it claimed led to the serious mishap.
Sulpicio Lines, whose flagship vessel capsized off the country's central province of Romblon, said it will charge the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) next week, Philippine TV network GMA News reported.
The ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars went upside down Saturday at the height of Fengshen, with 862 people on board, of whom only 56 have been confirmed rescued while the others are dead or still missing.
Sulpicio Lines lawyer Arthur Lim said the shipping company will charge Pagasa with gross incompetence and negligence, saying that the ferry could have escaped the tragedy had Pagasa issued an additional warning on the typhoon's movement.
Lim said the ship's route from Manila to Cebu was not completely reflected in the Pagasa bulletin they received before sailing.
At the Board of Marine Inquiry investigation earlier on Friday, Nestor Ponteres, Sulpicio's port captain in the country’s central city of Cebu, claimed that the shipping company was informed six hours late by Pagasa regarding typhoon Fengshen's changing course.
Ponteres also claimed he was in constant communication with the ferry's captain, Florencio Marimon Sr, before the ship capsized. Marimon is still missing.
Ponteres added that there were alternate routes that MV Princess of the Stars could have taken had the warning been relayed earlier.
But Pagasa director Prisco Nilo said that they always make sure to release weather updates to the public even though predicting the behavior of a typhoon cannot always be precise.
"Anywhere you go, the warnings and the bulletins are updated a number of times in a day, usually four times a day taking into consideration that (weather) forecasting is not an exact science," Nilo said, adding that shipping companies also have the responsibility to closely monitor the weather condition to ensure its vessels' safety.
Sulpicio Lines had earlier blamed the Philippine Coast Goard for the tragedy, saying on Wednesday that it is the Coast Goard's task to plot routes for vessels during inclement weather.
The Board of Marine Inquiry, however, said the 1998 memorandum circular on which Sulpicio Lines based its arguments had been replaced with an updated June 2007 memorandum circular that places responsibility on the ship's owner and captain.
Source: Xinhua
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