THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is reviewing the proposal to phase out all wooden-hulled vessels operating in the local trade.
"The proposal… is still on. We are just slowing down the process," Marina administrator Emerson Lorenzo said, adding "we are treading on this issue very lightly as severe damage could come to our economy if we do this without proper planning."
For now, "Marina is no longer entertaining proposals by ship owners to operate additional wooden-hulled vessels. Only existing wooden-hulled ships can be used but should be immediately replaced" after they have served their use.
Lorenzo declined to give a time frame on when wooden-hulled vessels in the Philippines will be completely phased out.
"It took Japan about 40 years to complete the phase out of all wooden-hulled ships in their domestic fleet. I think it will be fair to say that the process will be a long one."
Marina is set to come out with revised phaseout rules before yearend.
The transport needs of the Philippines are currently served by about 185 steel-hulled ships, ranging from 20 to 35 years old, and 2,664 wooden-hulled vessels, three gross tons and up, of which 1,543 are motorized bancas.
