ELVALENCIA

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Ship detained after deadly working accident

The ITF called for the Panamanian and Mexican authorities to reveal the results of their investigations into the death of an engineering cadet aboard the "El Valencia" – and to answer questions about her death, why her family weren’t informed about it for several days, and why the ship was allowed to proceed for 17 days with her body onboard. The "El Valencia" was sailing from the Pacific coast of Panama to the Atlantic through the Panama Canal. It stopped between Jul 27 and 30, 2012, due to steering problems, then anchored at Puerto de Cristobal on Jul 30 and set sail for Ciudad del Carmen on Aiug 1. The reason for the voyage is unclear; the ship did not have a charter contract. The fatal accident happened on Aug 4 at latitude 19 16.7 N 083 46.8 W. At 04.00 a.m. the 1stofficer, along with the cadet and an oiler went on watch. At 04.50 a.m., working alone, she made ready to transfer the bilge to the slop tanks in the engine room. At 5 a.m. she asked another cadet for help to get the emergency pump in place to discharge the bilge because the ship’s pump was faulty. The first officer heard her calling out his name in desperation after having been caught up in the mechanism. His immediate reaction was to stop the machine using the emergency button. He went to her and found her dead. At 05.35 a.m., the captain went down to the engine room. At 06.10 a.m., he called the ULTRAMAR agency in Panama. At 08.45 a.m. the body was removed. The company waited three days before officially informing the AMP (Panama Maritime Authority) on Aug 7, and on Aug 18 the PMA then informed the Mexican authorities, even though the body was still on the ship, and being kept in the its refrigerator. The ship meanwhile left Ciudad del Carmen and was refuelling in Dos Bocas. On Aug 20 the AMP ordered the detention of the ship in Puerto de Veracruz. Another two days passed because it was not clear whether it was the AMP or Mexico who had jurisdiction over the ship. Even then the body was still not removed from the refrigerator and brought ashore. On Aug 25 the body was finally taken for a post-mortem. On Aug 29 the remains were transferred to Panama. On 31 August, almost four weeks after her death, she was given a Christian burial. The investigation continues. There was reason to believe that the certificates of some of the crew on the ship needed examination, following rumours that some of them were bought. The AMP has withdrawn the ship’s certificates and the owners have reportedly tried to change the flag. Databases list the owners of the El Valencia as Top Agents Ltd of Panama City. However, they are believed locally to be the Fernández brothers, who run the Astilleros Braswell shipyard in Panama.