PCG says VTMS for Mactan Channel to be completed in 2017

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=914335
• Tuesday, August 16, 2016

(PNA), LDV/EB/SSC

CEBU CITY, Aug. 16 (PNA) -- The installation of the Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) for the Mactan Channel will be completed by next year, a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official said.

Rear Admiral William Melad, PCG commandant, said the VTMS, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which spent Y1.152 billion for the project, includes the construction of three radars and control towers.

Melad said the VTMS will monitor all vessels coming in and out of the Mactan Channel, the entry point to the Cebu port, both domestic and international.

The three radar towers will be set up in Bantolinao Point in the north of the channel, the middle radar will be in between the old and new Mactan-Mandaue bridges and the third radar will be along Talisay City in the south of the channel.

“Exchange of communications will be improved. It will be faster,” Melad said.

The VTMS in Mactan Channel is the third in the country after those in Corregidor Island and Verde Island.

Melad said the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) placed 10 buoys at the critical areas of Mactan Channel, especially at the entrance portion to guide the vessels on where to enter.

The completion of the VTMS will come nearly three years after the MV St. Thomas Aquinas sank at Lauis Ledge in Talisay City after it collided with the cargo vessel MV Sulpicio Express Siete.

The MV St. Thomas Aquinas of 2Go Shipping Lines collided with Sulpicio Express Siete of the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp (PSACC) on Aug. 16, 2013.

At least 100 people were killed in the collision after the Thomas Aquinas sank.