• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Due to the molasses spill into its marine reserve area, the Sagay City government in Negros Occidental penalized the M/T Mary Queen of Charity with a P250,000 fine, for violation of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018, City Legal Officer Atty Ryan Bonghanoy disclosed on Friday.
The molasses spill affected about 1.3 hectares of the Sagay Marine Reserve (SMR).
Bonghanoy said the owner of the vessel paid the P250,000 fine to the Sagay City government, whose Protected Area Management Board manages the 32,000 hectare marine reserve area.
Coast Guard Cmdr Jansen Benjamin, PCG Northern Negros Occidental head, disclosed that the vessel was allowed to leave the Sagay feeder port on Wednesday, after submitting documents of undertaking to pay the fines.
Benjamin said the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) documents of M/T Mary Queen of Charity are complete.
“This means the vessel is compliant. All its safety documents are updated,” he noted.
The spill occurred on August 7, during a shore-to-ship operation, or the loading of molasses from a truck to MT Mary Queen of Charity, docked at the Sagay City Feeder Port.
Coast Guard investigations indicated that the spill happened while the loading of molasses was taking place, and blamed human error.
Based on the underwater inspection, the vessel showed no signs of grounding, and its hull integrity was intact, which could indicate that the molasses spill was caused by mishandling in the transport of the molasses from the tanker truck to the vessel, according to Sagay Marine Reserve Resource Assessment head Roberto Togle.
The molasses supply from Lopez Sugar Corporation in Sagay City was bound for Manila.
During a recent meeting with the SMR Protected Area Management Board, Bonghanoy said the Environmental Management Bureau of DENR Western Visayas is contemplating the imposition of additional penalties on the owner of the vessel, as a result of the molasses leakage.
Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya said they are still awaiting results of the water sampling in the affected area, which is scheduled to be released soon.
Gerangaya said there is no trace of molasses in the feeder port area, which had already totally dissolved.
While the water is back to its normal color, Gerangaya said the primary concern of the DENR is if the marine habitat in the area is affected.
Molasses is a viscous byproduct from the processing of sugarcane, which is used in baking, candy-making, production of vinegar and citric acid, among many other uses.
Gerangaya said they are trying to determine whether molasses is hazardous, or not, adding that it was not included in the list of hazardous liquids.
He noted that if molasses dissolves in water, it could turn out to be food for marine life.*
