Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers

7:54 pm | Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Grounded container ship 'Rena' listing heavily to starboard in the Bay of Plenty near Tauranga. New Zealand faces its worst maritime pollution disaster in decades if the 'Rena' breaks up on Astrolabe reef, releasing all 1,700 tons of heavy fuel oil aboard into the bay. AFP/MARITIME NEW ZEALAND/Tim JOHNS

WELLINGTON —Officers of a ship that ploughed into a New Zealand reef causing the country’s worst maritime pollution disaster faced fresh charges on Wednesday for altering documents after the grounding.

The Rena’s Filipino captain and second officer have already been charged with operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk and discharging harmful substances.

The new charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice comes with a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

The Rena remains stuck fast on the Astrolabe Reef off the North Island resort area of Tauranga more than two months after the incident in which hundreds of tons of oil spilled into the sea harming wildlife and beaches.

New Zealand’s Environment Minister Nick Smith has claimed the Rena hit the Astrolabe Reef while taking a short cut to reach port.

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Tags: Filipino , New Zealand , OFW , oil slick , seafarer

Anonymous

Narito na naman tayo, isang pinoy na naman ang gumawa ng kabalbalan para itaob na naman ang lahing pinoy, pugutan sana ng ulo!

Anonymous

please do not jump into conclusions, you do not know what exactly happened there, you have no idea what these unfortunate men had been through…i think you yourself would never want these thing to happen, would you?

Anonymous

They overloaded te ship, on purpose.

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers
Je Lourd Lamoste

Ang mga taong katulad mo ang nagpapalaki ng gulo.. Kung hindi ka seafarer tumahimik ka nalang. Kung sino pa ang walang alam siya pa ang nanghuhusga.
Anonymous

how did you know…were you there
Anonymous

It is obvious, a ship will not turn turtle if it’s not overloaded.

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers
Anonymous

how come that you even had the nerve to even suggest to behead those unfortunate men when all you have in your intelligent mind is just the news and pictures that you read and see on tv, newspapers and internet and then in all your wisdom and sound judgement you then decide that they be beheaded…don’t you think that what you are saying here is far beyond your understanding…your mouth is way too fast for your mind to catch up

and by the way…a ship even if it is overloaded will not turn turtle because a ship’s load has a very very negligible effect on its speed in relation to wind force and current
Anonymous

don’t you understand what you are reading, he overloaded the ship, he was the captain of the ship; therefore he was in control of the ship; therefore he deserved to be headed. You’re right my mouth is too fast for my mind to decide that he must be punished severly, undestand. I’m sorry that he is your father.

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers
Anonymous

judging by the way that you throw your arguments, it clearly shows that you really do not know what you are talking about, as i see it you just base your arguments on what you read, don’t you think that that little knowledge of yours is putting you in a bad light because you readily condemn somebody just because of what you have read…who are you to say that those unfortunate men be beheaded, as you know the president and the whole nation, up to the last minute was praying and appealing to the chinese authorities that our countryman be spared of the death penalty, and here you are making this suggestion that these men be executed by beheading…i am not related to any of them, i was just disgusted by your remarks…as they say if you have nothing good to say then shut your mouth
Anonymous

You’re the one who is on bad light. If you read something and don’t believe it then why do you read?

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers
Anonymous

Anyway, have a Merry Christmas!

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers
Victoria

Yes, he overloaded the ship because it’s what the shipping company ordered him to do. He’s being victimized by the griddy employer, cost cutting and want huge profit. He needed the job, obviously, so naging uto uto na lang. What would you have done? Don’t castigate the captain. In any ways, ang jails dito sa NZ parang 5 star hotel. Yon na lang ang consolation nya.
Anonymous

HE COULD REFUSE TO DRIVE THE SHIP!

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers
Victoria

Yeah, right.. Easily said than done. If you have a family to support, children depending on you, would you easily refuse your employer’s order and lost your job?
Anonymous

I cannot lost my job for refusing an illegal activity!

Subject: [globalnation-inquirernet] Re: Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers

Victoria

Ibig mong sabihin, sinadya nilang itaob? It’s an accident waiting to happen..out of everyone’s control. Don’t judge if you don’t know the whole story.
Anonymous

brad, wag maging mapaghusga at baka sa bandang huli bumalik sa yo…
Anonymous

Ikaw kaya ang pugutan ng ulo ULO KA! ang mga new zealander hindi naman humihiling na pugutan ng ulo….tapos ikaw kapwa mo pinoy gusto mong pugutan ng ulo

Anonymous

the news is inaccurate as well as the picture shown. most of the oil has been siphoned off the ship since 2 weeks ago. the containers have also been painstakingly removed from the ship one by one. for the record, 2,000 birds have already been discovered dead.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5STEU22AD7YRHQSB6RE56ZDSYA J

Malaking kawalan sa mga seaman kung mahahatulan ang Kapitan at ang officer nito. Wake-up call din ito sa mga ibang Pinoy na Kapitan o officers ng ibang shipping line. Kailangan maging maingat at alerto lagi.
Sana ganito din ka-strikto ang Maritime Agency natin sa pagpapatupad ng batas.
Anonymous

Pnoy should intervene with the NZ government on behalf of the captain and the sailors and explain to them how things are done in the Philippines – that is, that it’s normal here to take shortcuts and other risks that put both lives and the environment in jeopardy and to then alter the documentation after the event! Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for us!! Just who do these Kiwis think they are that they should expect us to change our tried and proven ways?

He should send the VP to Auckland to explain our side of the story, and then demand that the charges be dropped. Goodness me, Filipino maps don’t even show any reefs in the Bay of Plenty! If VP Binay can’t get the charges dropped then he should quickly resort to another tried and proven Filipino back-up plan, buy the judges!!

Fresh charges for New Zealand oil slick ship officers

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