USS Guardian turns 90 degrees due to strong waves; more damage to reef feared

[rrvistal]

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The US Navy minesweeper USS Guardian, which ran aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea on Thursday, has turned 90 degrees due to strong currents, said Naval Forces West commander Commodore Joseph Rustom Peña.

Peña said though no assessment of the area has been released, the ship's movement may have caused more damage to the reef's fragile corals, according to Cedric Castillo's report on Balitanghali Sunday.



According to Peña, they are still awaiting the US Navy's assessment report on the incident. The US Navy has sent out four salvage tugboats to study how to remove the ship from the area.

For their part, the Philippine Navy has sent out three boats and a few Philippine Coast Guard boats to stand by in case the US Navy needs assistance, said the report.

In addition, the Philippine Navy has sent an oil spill response team in the area despite no signs of oil spill yet, it added.

Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement executive director Sec. Edilberto Adan said that concerned agencies have been coordinating with the US Navy to remove the ship from the protected area.

He has also ordered an investigation into the US Navy's inaccurate navigation that caused the minesweeper to cross a protected area.

The US Navy cited the possibility of faulty digital navigation chart data that “misplaced the location” of the reef.

“While the erroneous navigation chart data is important information, no one should jump to conclusions," said U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Darryn James according to a release from the US Pacific Fleet Public Affairs. "It is critical that the U.S. Navy conduct a comprehensive investigation that assesses all the facts surrounding the Guardian grounding."

The USS Guardian, with a crew of 80, had just completed a port call in Subic Bay and was en route to Indonesia and then on to Timor-Leste to participate in a training exercise when the grounding occurred.

Extending help

The Philippine government sees no problem in extending help to the US Navy in extricating the USSGuardian from Tubbataha Reef, Malacañang said Sunday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also declined to comment on the US Navy's liability in the incident for now, saying the Palace will wait for the investigation on the matter to finish.

“Walang problema kung kakailanganin ang ating tulong,” Valte said on government-run dzRB radio.

She said the Palace is also waiting for updates from the Department of Foreign Affairs on efforts to get the ship out of the reef with minimal damage.

Valte declined to comment on the US Navy’s liability in the incident.

“[It would be] prudent to wait for the results of the investigation by the [Departments of Foreign Affairs and National Defense] and other agencies concerned, then come up with recommendation,” she said.

“Ang mas immediate concern is to get it out of there; extricate it with least possible damage,” she added.

[gareb]

what was this ship doing there?

[JcBoY]

Yeah, what's this ship doing in one of the UNESCO declared World Heritage Site the Tubbataha reef home of the most beautiful and precious coral reefs? USS Guardian, a minesweeper or coral's sweeper? or are they mapping out the resources?

[Tirong-say]

Steering towards supremacy
or the clamor of such.

[Eddie.Garcia]

para nako dli cya ok nga naa cla dha.. pero what can we do? wa gani tay mahimo na garapalan ang pag panguha sa mga coral ug ubang mga isda sa spratlys sa mga insik kwakang baboy tikangkang...

[reptoid]

I don't think the Chinese fleet cares much about the protected status of the reef. In time of conflict that area could become a hot zone. Accidents happen, it's probably best not to antagonize our protectors too much over this incident seeing as how they've only recently resumed activities.

[crossramz]

And now they wanna ride the boat..

Senators slam US

[Tirong-say]

We can defend our sovereignty with words,
no problem.
We don't need an ally to help us for we have
a multitude of advanced armaments to tackle
any adversaries that tries to encroach into our domain.

And the environment is more important than
our country's security.

Nice and sound logic these senators had.

[jovipeorliohacokijo]

something fishy... daghan hinoon isda diha, pero murag dili isda ilang gipangita diha, sige na tawon ni sila pangita ug gold ky hapit na mahurot ilaha

[crossramz]

something fishy... daghan hinoon isda diha, pero murag dili isda ilang gipangita diha, sige na tawon ni sila pangita ug gold ky hapit na mahurot ilaha

Oh great now I can find gold ore in the reef..