Philippine oil disaster captain lacked tanker training

MANILA - The captain of a sunken Philippine tanker that has created the country's worst ever oil spill was not properly trained to pilot the ship, a Manila newspaper claimed Sunday.

The findings of a preliminary investigation into the August 11 disaster by the Maritime Industry Authority showed the tanker captain did not have "advance training on oil tanker operations" according to a report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

According to the Inquirer, the Authority found that the tanker's captain, Norberto Aguro, "although a licensed master mariner did not have advance training on oil tanker operations, which is required for the master onboard an oil tanker."

The Authority's investigator, Arnie Santiago, was quoted by the paper as saying that Aguro's "certificate of competency limited him to serve onboard chemical tankers only."

The tanker, Solar I, sank in rough seas off the southwestern coast of Guimaras island in the central Philippines spilling over 50,000 gallons of bunker oil.

Resting in 3,000 feet (900 meters) of water with 450,000 gallons of oil still inside, the tanker is said to be an ecological "ticking time bomb".

Oil has already destroyed local fisheries and polluted vast stretches of the Guimaras coastline.

The ship's owner Sunshine Maritime Development Corp has said the captain and crew were all qualified according to international standards.

Agence France-Presse