THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) will start penalizing today (Feb 22) shipowners who are non-compliant with the mandatory Protection and Indemnity (P&I) insurance coverage for pollution and wreck removal.
Marina administrator Ma. Elena Bautista said shipowners have every reason to comply considering the deadline has already been pushed back several times and the insurance cover lowered from $1.5 million to P5 million.
The deadline set by Marina lapsed on February 20.
The P&I policy applies to ships 500 gross tons (GT) and above using persistent oil and non-persistent oil operating in the domestic trade. Excluded from the policy are government-owned ships not engaged in commercial activities.
For pollution coverage, ships 500 GT to less than 1,000 GT using persistent oil and ships 500 GT to 2,000 GT using non-persistent oil will have a minimum liability of P5 million.
For 1,000 GT to 5,000 GT vessels using persistent oil, Marina will impose the minimum P&I coverage of P50 million, the same amount for 2,000 GT to 5,000 GT vessels using non-persistent oil.
Vessels of 5,000 GT carry a liability of P75 million.
For wreck removal, the liability of ships 500 GT and less than 2,000 GT is P5 million, and vessels 2,000 GT and above, P20 million.
Marina is imposing penalties for operators without the mandatory marine insurance.
A first offense comes with suspension until compliance and a fine of P1,000 per GT per vessel.
Second-time offenders will be fined P1,500 per GT per vessel and third-time offenders, P2,000 per GT per vessel aside from suspension until compliance.
