TIMeMagazine
eMagazineVol.1
Vol.1Issue
Issue 5
TIM
6
FILIPINO
SEAFARERS
RETURNED TO
THE COUNTRY
WITH MARINA
INTERVENTION
T
wo Filipino seafarers returned to the country after
almost a year of detention in the Republic of Korea
(ROK). The seafarers, 2/0 Gerome Villanueva, Jr. and AB
Jimmy Coliano, were prosecuted in Busan, ROK after
their vessel, M/V Ernest Hemingway, a 54,271 steelhulled Liberian container ship collided with a Koran
Fishing Boat named “Gunyang” on 16 January 2015 in
the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of ROK.
The collision resulted in the sinking of F/B “Gunyang”, death of two
(2) Korean fishermen and oil spill of 600 liters of oil.
According to the Pusan District Prosecutor’s Office, the Filipino
seafarers, who were on navigational watch during the accident, were
prosecuted for violating the Special Criminal Laws on Specific Crimes
(Ship Traffic Accident Fight) and professional negligence.
On 12 November 2015, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)
received a letter from Undersecretary Jeus I. Yabes, Office of the
Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (OUMWA-DFA) to assert the Philippine jurisdiction by
conducting an investigation on the accident.
Acting on the request, MARINA Administrator Maximo Q. Mejia,
Jr. and DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya sent Director
of the Enforcement Service (ES), Atty. Herschel F. Magracia, and his
team, Mr. Neil Brian Salvosa and Reneil M. Pascual to Busan, ROK
o 8 December 2015 to conduct an investigation and assert the
Philippine jurisdiction over the two seafarers pursuant to Article 97
of the UNCLOS. Said provision states that no penal and disciplinary
proceedings may be instituted against the master or any other
person in the service of the ship, except before the judicial or
administrative authorities either of the Flag State or of the State of
which such person is a national.
The MARINA, as the single maritime admini