M/T SOLAR 1 - What do we know?

1. 2.4 million liters bunker fuel on board when M/T Solar 1 sank. Petron reports that the loaded volume was 2,193,000 liters while the cargo tank capacity of the vessel was 2,228,000 liters or 98%. In terms of weight, the cargo was 2,064 metric tons versus the dead weight tonnage of 2,128 metric tons or 97%.

2. Bureau Veritas, International Inspection Group (France)
3. Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. owner 998-ton ship, launched in 1988
4. Philippine Trigon Shipyard, Cebu dry-dock, Glenn Dela Torre, owner
5. International Association of Classification Societies (IACS)
6. Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI)

7. The (BMI) believes the triangular hole and dents on the side of Solar I, as seen in the video taken by Shinsei Maru, were caused by a barge which came alongside the vessel. They raised the possibility of oil smuggling and the product was being siphoned from Solar I to a barge through a submersible pump.

8. The (BMI) has determined that the crew of the ill-fated tanker M/T Solar I had violated safety procedures when they failed to turn on signaling equipment that automatically send distress signals. Solar I radioman Herminio Regil told the board that their Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and Search and Rescue Radar Transponder (SART) were turned off.

9. 18 surviving crewmen survived, two crewmen remain missing and presumed dead.
10. Petron Corp. chartered the vessel to ferry bunker oil from their port in Bataan to Zamboanga City.

11. The (BMI) has determined that Tanker Captain Norberto Aguro allowed two cargo surveyors of Petron to go onboard without presenting a seaman’s book. Captain Aguro also declared only 16 crewmen onboard, when in fact 20 persons were on board the vessel. The (BMI) also found that four of the persons listed as crewmembers were actually not onboard and instead, other individuals took their place.

12. The (BMI) has determined that the tanker sailed with several hatches open, as seen in the video taken by a remotely-operated vehicle of the Japanese survey ship
Shinsei Maru.

13. The vessel sank to the ocean floor in an "upright position," estimated to be at a depth of 640 meters.

14. Operators from the Japanese ship, Shinsei Maru, remotely operated vehicle (ROV), stated that "a look of the 10 compartments showed the gaskets already sustained some damage." "Compartment 4 was already open, and it was likely the oil that leaked out came from it." Capt. Luis Tuason, District Commander of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for Western Visayas, reported that tank no. 2 on the ship's portside or left side of the ship, was apparently damaged and oil continues to leak from it. Each compartment has a capacity of about 275,000 liters of oil but it was not yet clear how much oil has leaked out.

15. The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has determined that radio operator Herminio Reugel, pumpman Jessie Angeling and one of the three tanker oilers did not have valid General Tanker Familiarization Certificates.

16. The (Marina) determined that Tanker Captain Norberto Agoro did not have Advanced Training on Oil Tanker Operations, "which is required for the Master on board oil tanker." "Thus [Aguro's] COC (Certificate of Competency) limits him to serve on board chemical tankers only."

17. Tanker Captain Norberto Aguro has admitted to having been previously "banned" at the Petron Bataan Refinery in Limay, Bataan, where the MT Solar 1 loaded some two million liters of industrial fuel. Aguro said authorities in the petroleum facility had been irked after he had ignored procedures to have a tugboat pull a tanker, which he piloted, into the dock. He wanted to bring tankers in by himself, which was a less costly move that could be accomplished with his expertise. In his place, Aguro allowed Captain Victoriano Beronia, his auxillary master, to bring the MT Solar 1 into the pier on August 9.

18. The (Marina) determined that Tanker Captain Noberto Aguro violated safety procedures by failing to divert the MT Solar 1 from the Guimaras Strait on the eastern side of Panay Island when it was first tossed by rough waves on August 10, (a day before the sinking). The southwest monsoon was blowing strongly that time, when the MT Solar 1 was passing Dumali Point between Marinduque and Mindoro. Captain Aguro should have ordered his crew to take the western route around Panay Island where the seas would be calmer.







Petron Corp's Solar1 Oil Spill at Guimaras Island