US Navy pushes back USS Guardian salvage ops due to rough seas

 News
Feb 102013
 
US Navy pushes back USS Guardian salvage ops due to rough seas

Poor sea conditions forced the US Navy on Sunday to push back the operation to dismantle USS Guardian, a minesweeper ship, to pull it out from the Tubbataha Reef where it has been grounded since Jan. 17. The US Navy team would continue the salvage operation when the bigger crane ship Jackson 25 arrives, said Coast Guard Palawan District chief Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista. Earlier reports said the first crane ship Smit Borneo from Singapore encountered anchoring problems last Saturday, causing a delay in the start of the salvage operation. “Smit Borneo is there but could not anchor due to weather. Its anchoring should be precise. It tried (to anchor) but so far, out of the four anchors, only one had a good bite at seabed,” said Evangelista. After the Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board approved the salvage plan crafted by the US Navy, Coast Guard commandant Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena announced on Wednesday the dismantling of the USS Guardian may start Sunday or Monday. However, the operation hit a snag due to anchoring problem. Citing information from US Navy officials, Evangelista said Jascon 25 departed Singapore around 4 p.m. Saturday and is due to sail directly to Tubbataha Reef. He said the bigger crane ship is expected to arrive around 9 p.m. Friday. The USS Guardian ran aground on Tubbataha Reef last Jan. 17, after a port call at Subic Bay, a former base of the US Navy. Latest estimate showed that the grounding of the ship has damaged 4,000 Read More …

Fisherfolk groups urge DOJ to slap raps vs. USS Guardian execs, crewmen

 News
Feb 042013
 
Fisherfolk groups urge DOJ to slap raps vs. USS Guardian execs, crewmen

A federation of fisherfolk groups on Tuesday formally asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to file charges against Navy officials and crew members of the USS Guardian for what they called a “grand massacre” of the Tubbataha Reef Park after an accident earlier this month. In a letter to De Lima, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said Rear Admiral Jeffrey Harley and Lt. Commander Mark Rice of the US Asia Pacific military command and the 79 crew members of USS Guardian should all be held liable for the destruction of the reef. “The evidence is so damning enough to enforce the arrest of US Navy officials and 79 crew members of USS Guardian for extremely violating the country’s sovereignty and laws. But nothing has been done to pursue their arrest and demand accountability from them,” said the Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. The USS Guardian ran aground on Tubbataha Reef last January 17 and could not immediately be extracted. Much of its potentially harmful content – including 15,000 gallons of fuel – have already been removed from the ship. An initial assessment of the incident had shown that about 1,000 square meters of corals in Tubbataha Reef park have been severely damaged. It is believed that it takes a year for a millimeter of mostly hard corals in Tubbataha’s South Section to go back to its sound condition and it will take 250 years for a meter of coral to Read More …

US Navy presents plan to dismantle grounded ship in Tubbataha

 News
Feb 042013
 
US Navy presents plan to dismantle grounded ship in Tubbataha

By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:38 pm | Monday, February 4th, 2013 USS Guardian AP PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The United States Navy has presented to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) its USS Guardian “dismantling plan” that will utilize floating cranes in what it calls a “complex operation” to minimize damage to the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea. Lt. Commander Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, however, told the Philippines they have to get word from the US Navy when the actual ship dismantling operation would start. In a text message, Balilo said on Monday “there’s no information yet on the exact date of the ship-breaking.” But he assured PCG personnel “will assist the US Navy personnel (involved in the operation).” Coast Guard vessels will also “conduct patrols to secure the Tubbataha Reef area while the operation is underway,” Balilo added. Reports reaching the PCG headquarters in Manila said the SMIT Borneo of SMIT Singapore Pte. Ltd., the floating crane contracted by the US Navy to remove the grounded Guardian, has arrived at the reef. US naval salvage experts have assessed that attempts to remove the Guardian intact, such as towing or pulling it off the reef, could cause more damage to the reef and the ship’s hull and most likely result in the vessel breaking up or sinking. The Guardian ran aground on Jan. 17, while transiting to Indonesia after a port visit at the former US naval base in Subic, Zambales. On Jan. 31, the US Pacific Fleet Read More …

Tubbataha Reef accident ignored during meeting of PH officials with US lawmakers

 News
Jan 292013
 
Tubbataha Reef accident ignored during meeting of PH officials with US lawmakers

By Tarra Quismundo Philippine Daily Inquirer 8:59 pm | Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, right, looks at the guest book which was signed by visiting US congressmen led by Edward Royce, R-Calif., left, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Manila, Philippines. Rep. Royce is in Manila for talks with top Philippine officials, including President Benigno Aquino III, aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries. Others in the photo are Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, second from left, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., third from left, Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., fourth from left, and Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., second from right. AP MANILA, Philippines — The grounding of a United States minesweeper ship on Tubbataha Reef and its increasing damage on the marine sanctuary and protected area in the Sulu Sea was apparently not on the agenda when a delegation of US lawmakers met with Philippine officials on Monday. Officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said discussions between the Philippine and US sides instead focused on furthering long-standing defense and economic ties between the two countries. Environmental issues were discussed broadly, with focus on Philippine initiatives on preparing for and mitigating the impact of climate change, officials said. “There was a discussion of the leadership of the Philippines in terms of conservation of the environment,” said Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for American Affairs Carlos Sorreta, who was present in the meeting. Asked if there was an Read More …

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