Marshall Island’s initial probe on ramming incident ‘now being concluded’ —exec

The preliminary investigation of Marshall Islands’ Maritime and Corporate Registries on the ramming of a Filipino boat near Pangasinan is currently being concluded, its country-representative told a Senate committee on Thursday.

“Right now, as we speak, we are already in the process of concluding the investigation and it will be a full report that will be forwarded to IMO [International Maritime Organization] database and it will be visible for Port State Control (PSC),” Captain Leo Bolivar said during the Senate motu proprio investigation into the ramming incident which led to the death of three Filipino fishermen.

According to Bolivar, the Marshall Islands opened the probe as early as October 4 when they heard about the incident involving Pacific Anna, which is now considered as a vessel of interest.

“All these reports will be released to IMO because we have an obligation under IMO CIC, the Casualty Investigation Code. I’m sure the port state control knows that and the sharing of information is mandatory or given in the CIC. So port states share investigation reports and some information that would be very significant in finding out the fact and the truth of what happened,” he said.

Three fishermen, including the captain of FB Dearyn, died after their boat was rammed by a foreign commercial vessel in waters west of Pangasinan.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said that no other vessel went near FB Dearyn at that time other than MV Pacific Anna, an oil tanker registered in the Marshall Islands.

The PCG earlier said appropriate authorities in Singapore, M/V Pacific Anna’s next destination port, and Marshall Islands where the ship is registered, have already been notified of the incident and ongoing investigations.

PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela previously said initial information would show that the incident “was not deliberate” and it is a mere “accident.”—AOL, GMA Integrated News