Salvage of toxic cargo in Sulpicio ship faces delay

SALVAGING the toxic cargo inside Sulpicio Lines Inc.'s sunken vessel MV Princess of the Stars will have to wait a little longer after the US-based salvage company Titan Salvage tasked to do the job has required the shipping firm for a London-based guarantor, according to Transport Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista.

The request resulted in the postponement of the contract signing with Sulpicio, which was scheduled to Wednesday or Thursday this week.

They need security cover. So it wants assurance that it will be paid once Sulpicio is not able to pay them, she said after the board meeting of the Maritime Industry Authority late Monday.

It will be up to them to sell their company and I think they are creditworthy.

Titan is requiring a guarantee from a British company since if arbitration should be required, such as a default in payment, it will take place there.

Sulpicio is not a member of any protection-and-indemnity club, which is not required by Philippine laws. Its only insurance cover is on hull and machinery through Oriental Assurance Corp., and passenger, which is a compulsory requirement by the government.

Titan needs least 21 days to mobilize all the equipment and 30 days to get the vessel's entire crude load and the other cargoes, including the toxic chemical endusulfan. That means retrieval operations can only start on the second week of August at the earliest.

The firm was able to trim down the total price of salvaging the cargoes to $7.5 million from $8.9 million after the government promised them some support other than financial assistance.

The government has decided to prioritize extracting the cargoes and fuel from the sunken 23,824-gross- registered-ton vessel rather than trying to refloat it.

Sources said refloating the vessel would need another salvor to do the job.

Bautista said that after the cargoes and fuel are extricated, they would retrieve some 500 bodies still inside the capsized vessel.

Source: businessmirror.com