USS Guardian salvage operation in Tubbataha to continue through Holy Week

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 14): USS Guardian salvage operation in Tubbataha to continue through Holy Week

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- Salvage operation in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) for the grounded USS Guardian will continue even through the Holy Week, says the Task Force Tubbataha (TFT).

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, district commander of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Palawan and the head of the TFT, said salvage operations will continue even through the Holy Week to ensure that the scheduled deadline will be met, or if there will be delays, these would only be a few days.

But working through the Holy Week, he said also depends greatly on the weather condition in the area although they expect it will be so since it’s already summer.

As of yesterday, Jascon 25 and the other salvors working with the TFT, have already lifted two of the minesweeper’s main engines.

If good weather permits, Evangelista said the main engine will be followed by the removal of three other auxiliary engines of the USS Guardian.

The task force commander said crewmen of all the salvors assisting in the removal of the USS Guardian are all working hard to ensure that damages on the coral reefs will be minor.

He’s saying this came after members of the group Pamalakaya Pilipinas trooped to the office of Governor Baham Mitra recently to demand that the crewmen and captain of the minesweeper be called back to Palawan to make them all personally liable for damaging the protected coral reefs of Tubbataha.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=507074