Filipino Captain In An Environmental Crisis In New Zealand

I was saddened reading this news article at Yahoo Philippines homepage regarding an incident involving a Filipino captain in a sea pollution crisis in New Zealand. You can read the Yahoo’s full story here.

“NZ Defence Force assistance to OP Rena” by New Zealand Defence Force – Flickr: NZ Defence Force assistance to OP Rena. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons.

As a fellow mariner and Filipino, I can imagine the situation the involved captain is experiencing at this moment. He will be the face the people will blame and condemn. But as a master of the ship, any event that is related to his ship is his responsibility.

A thorough investigation should be conducted to know the cause of the incident before judging the person. Events like this really occur, but the chances can be greatly reduced by proper training and experiences. But sometimes even after all the efforts exerted, accidents still occur. All we can do know is to pray that the environmental damage be contained.