The Philippines: The Greater Subic Bay Tourism Bureau (GSBTB) has complained about the close range of several cargo vessels to the Subic Bay coastline. GSBTB Marketing Director Charles W Davis said that many of the ships seemed to be anchored on locations that were close to tourism facilities.
"The perception is that the presence of these ships is a potential threat to the environment—oil tankers especially," Mr Davis said. "This is an issue where a perception of a problem can be worse than the real problem."
The lay up of vessels is expected to continue for several months, and will coincide with the peak period of the tourism season.
Mr Davis said that local tourist groups and families would bypass Subic Bay is there was a view that it was no longer a suitable tourist destination.