Una, malaking bahagi pala ng mga RORO na naglalayag sa Pilipinas ay lagpas na sa 30 taon ang edad. Marami dito ay higit na sa 20 taon ang edad at hindi na pinapayagang maglayag sa mga bansang pinanggalingan nila dahil nga sa maritime safety issues. Sa madaling salita, itinuturing na scrap na ang mga ito sa mga pinanggalingang bansa. Basahin

Pero dito sa atin, kaunting repair, kaunting pintura, konting kuskos, ayos?
Naala-ala mo pa baga iri?

Ang sinapit ng Princess of the Stars.

Ang Princess of the Stars, may bagyo, mabilis na lumubog sa Romblon

Ang Princess of the Stars, flagship ng Sulpicio Lines, ay hindi nag-malfunction kundi bumiyahe ito sa bahagi ng dagat sa baybayin ng Romblon na malalaki ang alon dala ng bagyo.

Pinayagang maglayag ang malaking Ro-Ro/passenger ship sapagkat pinaniwalaang may kakayahan itong manatiling nakalutang sa lugar malapit sa bagyo. Ang bagyong Fengshen (Typhoon Frank), naman ay biglaang nagbago ng direksiyon ng araw na iyon at naglagay sa malaking barko sa seryosong panganib.

Habang naglalayag, Hunyo 20, 2008, 11:30 am pinagsuot ng mga life jackets ang mga pasahero. Pagkaraan ng 15 minuto, ang kapitan ay nagbigay ng order to 'abandon ship'. Nagsimulang kumiling ang barko pagsapit ng tanghaling tapat. Nagpadala ng distress signal ang barko at nawala ang radio contact pagdating ng 12:30 pm. (Wikipedia)

May pahabol pa sa isang karagdagang balita: Sulpicio Lines is suing PAGASA for “its erroneous typhoon forecasts” (Hapless Victims Caught Between Finger Pointers and Pontius Pilates).

Princess of the Stars

Kumusta naman kaya ang iba pang mga Ro-Ro? Ito ang sample naman ng isang lumubog kahit walang bagyo:

RORO sinks off Masbate in good weather: Two dead, 55 rescued (GMA, June 14, 2013)

Caption ng Inquirer: THE MV LADY of Mount Carmel docked at the port of Masbate on its MAIDEN VOYAGE ON JUNE 11. The ferry sank at dawn on JUNE 14 in the calm waters off Burias Island, 307 kilometers south of Manila. CONTRIBUTED BY NERI JAZUL

Ganito naman ang maaaring maganap kapag nawala sa mooring ang kargang sasakyan - MAY BAGYO O WALA:

Naglalayag sa kalmadong dagat, ang MV Lady of Mount Carmel ngunit natapos ito sa maikling biyahe sa Masbate nang biglang lumubog ito sa Burias Island ng Biyernes ng umaga at nawala sa ilalim ng mga alon.

Dalawa ang nakuhang patay mula sa dagat, isa ang isang matandang babae, habang ang 55 iba pa ay naligtas. Sinabi ni Raffy Alejandro ng Bicol's Office of Civil Defense na ayon sa kapitan ng barko, isang bus na sakay ng RORO ang nawala sa maayos na puwesto nito na naging dahilan para mawala sa balanse ang barko, kumiling at lumubog. Ang water pump naman ng barko ay hindi gumana hanggang mapuno ng tubig ang barko.

Ayon sa Philippine Coast Guard ang MV Lady ng Mount Carmel ay lumubog sa Burias Island alas-5 ng umaga, mga tatlong oras pagkatapos na umalis sa bayan ng Pio Duran sa lalawigan ng Albay, ulat ng radio dzBB.

Ano baga ang nagiging problema sa mga RoRo? Na dapat isaisip at gawan ng solusyon kung kakayanin?

Headline: 'RORO sank within a minute, no time for life jackets - ship captain'

Ano pa ang dapat malaman para higit na makapag-ingat? Pasahero o tripolante man, may-ari ng RoRo o kapitan man, PAGASA weather bureau o Philippine Coast Guard pa man?

Maritime website says RORO ships unsafe

1. The Problem of Stability

If a vessel maintains its stability at sea then it is safer to sail. However, the problem with the RO-RO ship is its design, which includes cargo in upper decks and accommodation at even higher levels.

Even a minor shift of cargo in the ro-ro vessel can become a major threat to the stability of the ship. Similarly, hull failure leading to flooding can result in capsize of the vessel in no time. The effects of wind and bad weather on high accommodation can also disturb the ship’s stability.

2. High Freeboard

In Ro-Ro ships which carry only cargo, the general arrangement of cargo access door is close to the water line. In the event of listing, the door can get submerged leading to high chances for ingress of water inside the ship which will lead to capsize.

3. Cargo Access Door

As discussed above the effect of listing of the ship leads to ingress of water if the cargo doors are open or damaged. One weak point of ro-ro vessel is that sometimes the cargo door itself is used as a ramp which makes the ship more vulnerable to damages.

4. Lack of Bulkheads

The subdivision of ro-ro ship from inside lacks from the transverse bulkheads, leading to lower water tight integrity when water ingress or flooding takes place. Lack of bulkhead also leads to spreading of fire more quickly as no subdivision is present to contain the fire.

5. Location of Life Saving Appliances (LSA)

When a ship is to be abandoned, life raft and lifeboats are used to leave the ship as soon as possible. The location of lifeboat and life rafts on ro-ro ships is usually very high, which makes it even difficult to lower them at sea especially when the ship is listing.

6. Weather condition

Another reason which acts externally on the Ro-Ro vessel is the rough weather, which may result in reduction in the stability and cause heavy rolling of the ship. Heavy rolling has lead to capsizing of ships in the past.

7. Cargo stowage

Cargo stowage is very important operation on Ro-Ro vessel for any loose cargo (trailer, cars etc.) can give rise to a chain reaction leading to heavy shift in cargo position. The trucks and trawlers loaded on board also carry cargo inside them and any shift of that cargo can also lead to listing of the ship.

8. Cargo Loading

It is very difficult to have a sequential loading of cargo as cargo arrives on terminals at different intervals and due to lack of time on port. This further leads to uneven cargo distribution, something for which nothing can be done about. Lack of proper cargo distribution has been the reason for several ship accidents in the past. - MarineInsight