M/V Mariana aftermath prompts CPA discussion on typhoon vessel safety

The fate of the M/V Mariana following Super Typhoon Sinlaku las April has prompted Commonwealth Ports Authority officials to question whether every vessel should automatically be required to leave port ahead of a typhoon, particularly when putting to sea could pose a greater danger to the vessel and its crew.

During the Aug. 7 CPA board meeting, vice chair Antonio B. Cabrera raised the issue as the authority discussed vessels damaged or capsized during super typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi.

Although Cabrera did not identify the vessel by name during this portion of the discussion, his comments came in the context of the recent vessel casualties at CPA ports, including the M/V Mariana.

Cabrera questioned whether requiring every vessel to leave port is necessarily the safest option, particularly for vessels that may not be designed to withstand severe open-ocean conditions.

“I have experienced waves out there as high as they lift. That boat was probably designed to operate in a river or lake,” Cabrera said. “Not all ships can be just told to leave the port. That's a suicide mission.”

Cabrera said the recent storms illustrated the difficult decisions vessel operators can face when a typhoon changes direction and there may be no clearly safe route away from the system.

He described a scenario in which a storm initially threatening Guam and Rota subsequently shifts toward Saipan, leaving a vessel with increasingly limited options. Heading south could take the vessel toward the approaching storm, while heading east could expose it to high seas and heading west could leave the vessel moving in the same direction as the typhoon.

Cabrera also questioned whether a vessel would have sufficient fuel capacity to remain at sea under those circumstances.

“That's probably one reason why the vessel capsized. It's not built to withstand the high seas and critical waves,” Cabrera said.

He said the overriding consideration should be protecting people rather than vessels or port infrastructure.

“Because human life is paramount. More important than the vessel itself. Or the dock itself,” Cabrera said. “So we have to get together on that.”

CPA board chair Bart Jackson agreed that the issue warrants further examination and said the authority should seek guidance from the U.S. Coast Guard.

“I think that we'll take that suggestion and go to the Coast Guard,” Jackson said.

Jackson said CPA has not previously had to deal extensively with such circumstances and needs to determine how to respond when vessels may not be able to safely put to sea as severe weather approaches.

“And at some point, we need to—it's an area that we haven't dealt with before. And needs to be dealt with,” Jackson said. “And so, we need to interact with the Coast Guard to get some guidance on what to do in these rare, but obviously still happening, rare situations.”

Jackson said the objective should be “to prevent any loss of life, certainly, or loss of material,” emphasizing that preventing loss of life takes precedence.

The board did not adopt a new policy allowing the M/V Mariana or other vessels to remain tethered at CPA ports during typhoons. Instead, the discussion pointed toward CPA consulting the Coast Guard over whether its procedures should account for factors such as a vessel's design and seaworthiness, the projected path of a storm and whether ordering a particular vessel to sea could create a greater risk to human life.

The discussion followed CPA executive director Esther Ada's report that four vessels had capsized at CPA ports and that removal efforts were underway.

“The four vessels that capsized in our ports, we do have a new mission assignment to remove all of those,” Ada said.

Ada said weather was complicating the removal work.

“Part of the challenge now is just the wind and the rain,” she said.