Former Navy officer says human error may have caused Tubbataha incident

From the Philippine Star (Jan 29): Former Navy officer says human error may have caused Tubbataha incident

The grounding of a United States warship in Tubbataha Reef may have been caused by a human error and cannot be attributed solely to faulty charts, a former Navy chief said on Tuesday.

Ferdinand Golez, former flag- officer-in-command of the Navy, said errors can still happen even if a ship has sophisticated navigation charts. “There is such thing as human weakness. Even in the most powerful navy in the world, weakness can come in so errors can happen and so the Tubatahana incident happened,” Golez told reporters. “Since they (US) might have the necessary equipment and necessary references they are not able to use it properly that’s why the incident happened,” he added.

Golez said he was surprised by the grounding of the USS Guardian in the Tubbataha Reef since the area is wide.

“Of course the map by itself cannot cause the grounding,” the former Navy chief said.

“In my recollection in my entire 38 years in the Navy, we never had an incident in the place,” he added.

Golez, now a board member of state-owned Bases Conversion Development Authority, said a few degrees error in a chart can cause a ship to be displaced.

He said it is not unusual to see ships passing by the Tubbataha area, which he described as “a normal sea lane.”

“As navigators we have to be aware of danger areas and Tubbataha Reef is protected area so you have to be careful once you transit that area,” Golez said.

The 1,300-ton, 68-meter-long USS Guardian ran aground dawn of Jan. 17 at the Tubbataha Reef’s south atoll, raising concerns about its possible impact on the area.

Tubbataha, which covers 130,028 hectares, was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1993.

Because of its extensive coral network, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Marine Park in the Sulu Sea has been declared a protected area.

The USS Guardian was reportedly on its way to Puerto Princesa in Palawan after a port call and supply replenishment in Subic Bay when the incident happened.

The US Navy has blamed “faulty navigation chart data” for the incident.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas, Jr. has expressed regret for the incident and promised to help in assessing the damage and extricating the ship as expeditiously as possible.

The Philippine government, however, would continue to probe the incident with no less than President Benigno Aquino III saying that the US apology does not exempt the ship’s crew from having to comply with the law.

http://www.philstar.com/breaking-news/2013/01/29/902520/former-navy-officer-says-human-error-may-have-caused-tubbataha