USS GUARDIAN GROUNDING UP DATE:
 |
| USS GUARDIAN IN BETTER DAYS, PHOTO FROM THE SHIP's FACEBOOK |
According to the press story below Marine Sanctuary Rangers contacted the USS GUARDIAN by radio to warn her away from the Reef. According to previous coverage the ships charts showed the reef's position to be eight miles away from their charted position. The ship told the Rangers they should take their complaint to the U.S. embassy. We speculate that the ship mistook the Rangers navigational warning as a complaint that the ship was violating some unrecognized buffer zone or adjacent protected area and not as a warning of imminent danger.
Stranded US Navy ship ignored warnings: Philippines
MANILA — A US Navy minesweeper that has been stuck on a World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines since last week ignored warnings to avoid the area, a government official said on Monday.
The comments from the superintendent of Tubbataha marine park, Angelique Songco, added to growing anger in the Philippines over the incident, for which the US Navy has apologised but may still face fines.
Park rangers radioed the USS Guardian to advise it was nearing the Tubbataha Reef on Thursday, but the ship captain insisted they raise their complaint with the US embassy, Songco told reporters.
She said shortly after the warning, the 68-metre (224-foot) vessel became stuck on part of Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Sulu Sea about 130 kilometres (80 miles) southeast of the western island of Palawan.
The site is protected by Philippine law, and is off-limits to navigation except for research or tourism approved by Songco's office.
No comments:
Post a Comment