CORAL CRUSHER

Video of Cebu tour sub hitting reef wall gone viral

Barely a month after it's formal launch, the country's first tourist submarine faces the prospect of getting torpedoed after environmentalists raised a howl over a video posted online that showed the underwater craft brushing against a coral reef in the waters off Lapu-Lapu City. The one-minute video uploaded to the video sharing site YouTube showed the yellow-colored submarine maneuvering close to the reef wall. The submarine eventually hit the wall prompting the craft to move away. The underwater footage was apparently taken by a diver and was uploaded to the YouTube account of a certain Satoshi Toyoda last Wednesday, April 24. As of 9pm last night, the video had 3,703 hits and got at least 20, mostly negative, comments. The underwater tour is operated by the Cebu Yellow Submarine and Undersea Tour Corp. Capt. Anelito Gabison, a former commander of the Philippine Coast Guard station in Cebu and the operations and safety manager of the tour company, was quoted in media reports as saying during the tour’s launch that they have made sure to keep a distance of six meters away from the reef to make sure marine life is not disturbed. In the footage, the submarine approached the reef from its starboard side and hit the wall. A crunching sound could be heard followed by an “oooh” apparently from the diver who took the video. “It is a disaster waiting to happen,” says Cebu-based diver and marine biologist Gary Cases who formerly headed the Philippine Commission on Sports and Scuba Diving of the Department of Tourism. Cases said he received a link of the footage and saw how the watercraft damaged the corals. “They should be made liable for the destruction of the reef,” Cases told Cebu Daily News. Environment advocates also called for an investigation to determine how the operator got their permit and which government agency should monitor its operation. Vince Cinches, Country Oceans Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said the operator must come up with a measure to recover what has been damaged. “They should apologize publicly and come up with measures to correct their destructive activities. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other governing agencies should come down hard on business. The unfortunate incident highlights the need to strengthen our institutional capacity to protect our remaining marine resources which is currently facing an unprecedented crisis,” Cinches said. The yellow submarine incident is the third accident involving a watercraft and the coral reef. In January, a US Navy minesweeper, the USS Guardian, ran aground in the Tubbataha Reef and was followed by the grounding of a Chinese-flagged fishing boat the day after the warship was taken off the reef early this month. Internal investigation The operation of the underwater submarine tour was suspended last Friday pending an explanation from the Cebu Yellow Submarine and Undersea Tour Corporation. The suspension was lifted Saturday after they submitted an explanation to its mother company, Philippine BXT Corp. “The (Imperial) Palace assures the public that it intends to maintain its position as an environmentally conscious company - always mindful of any impact it may have on the welfare of its communities and attentive to the dignity of the marine life,” Imperial Palace said in a statement issued last Friday. Angela Emphasis of Imperial Palace said the submarine operator has submitted an explanation thus the lifting of its suspension. She said a copy of the result of the internal investigation will be released today. Gloria Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC) wondered how such activity was able to operate in the coast of Lapu-Lapu City. “All those who gave that approval should have ways of monitoring. Even as an environmental advocate, knowing very well that the LGUs don’t know the state of their eco-system. Daghan pa gani mag-dynamite fishing dinha. This kind of activity just adds to the problem. Who can monitor unsa ang nanga-igo dinha. I don’t know if we are ready for that,” Ramos said. The Philippines does not have regulations pertaining to the operation of submersible watercraft. The yellow submarine according to Capt. Gabisan was given a probationary passenger permit. The permit will expire tomorrow. “Marina (Maritime Industry Authority) is yet to craft a regulation for that. As of now they based their permit on the safety certificate provided by the Korean Register of Shipping which is recognized by the International Association of Certification Society,” Gabisan told Cebu Daily News. Not impressive The yellow submarine is the first of its kind in the country's tourism industry. A resident who had experienced the submarine tour about two weeks ago was not impressed with the idea. “I only saw a few fishes and the submarine have to get close to the reef so the passengers can see something. At one point during (the tour) we felt a slight tremor. Maybe it hit a coral we are not sure,” said the passenger who requested not to be named. Liza Osorio of the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation (CCEF) said the video is an actual evidence that the company is causing damage to the corals. “This activity should be addressed by the local government of Lapu-Lapu City to take action and of course to ensure that this activity should stop immediately,” Osorio said. /Marian Z. Codilla, Senior Reporter