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The first of eight grounded vessels of Sulpicio Lines Inc. sailed out of Manila harbor yesterday.
Only one passenger was on board the Cebu-bound MV Princess of the South, which was cleared to sail by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) at 10 a.m.
It was the fleet’s first passenger ship allowed back to sea since the sinking of its MV Princess of the Stars in June last year.
The lone passenger was accompanied by 52 officers and crew, as well as four sea marshals, in its Manila-Cebu voyage, according to SLI port captain Nestor Ponteras.
Asked why there was only one passenger, Ponteras said SLI received clearance last Oct. 29, a few days before the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day holidays. The ship arrives in Cebu at 1 p.m. and will return to Manila at 8 p.m. tonight.
Ponteras said SLI would advertise their bookings for the rest of the week. The company will also be recalling its stewards and sanitary personnel who were displaced when the passenger fleet was grounded.
Marina administrator Maria Elena Bautista said SLI has met all requirements to again operate passenger vessels.
These included protection and indemnity coverage of $1.5 million for the removal of the wreck of the Princess of the Stars, and another $1.5 million for the cleanup of that vessel’s oil spill.
Cebu business leaders welcomed the development.
“Of course, we’re very happy. Businessmen and other passengers can now travel conveniently from one province to another, especially that December is fast approaching,” said Samuel Chioson, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said he hoped all of SLI’s eight passenger vessels could sail before Christmas.
Rey Calooy of the Filipino Chinese Business Club in Cebu said lifting the suspension of SLI’s passenger vessels would ease the burden of small businessmen who accompany their cargo.
Calooy said Sulpicio would also have to regain the trust of passengers and ensure the tragedy would not happen again.
“We have to work this out so that the people’s confidence in sea travel will be revived,” he said.
Marina and Philippine Coast Guard personnel were on board to monitor the crew’s compliance with safety procedures, said Bautista. But in an interview over dyLA yesterday, Ponteras said there were none in yesterday’s voyage. He said Bautista may have been referring to last week’s test voyage where over 100 Coast Guard recruits joined the trip.
The Princess of the South, one of 16 vessels of Sulpicio Lines Inc., can accommodate 1,334 people.
Only cargo vessels were allowed to sail after the Princess of the Stars tragedy, wherein over 800 passengers and crew perished. SLI has seven other passenger vessels on standby.
