Crude oil has started to seep out of a tanker that sank amid the onslaught of typhoon “Carina,” threatening Manila Bay, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Some of the 1.4-million liters of industrial fuel have started to leak prompting the PCG to scramble to avoid an environmental catastrophe.
PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo recommended the suspension of fishing in the capital’s main body of water as dispersants are sprayed on the slick.
Balilo said the suspension of fishing in the bay will prevent people “eating contaminated fish.”
The MT Terra Nova sank off Bataan early Thursday, killing one crew member and leaving the country potentially facing its worst oil spill disaster.
The industrial fuel oil (IFO) was being transported by motor tanker when it was buffeted by rough seas.
Balilo said that, thus far, he could assure the public there is nothing to be alarmed about, as the siphoning of the toxic fuel would, hopefully, start today.
In a virtual press conference, Balilo said divers of Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. inspected the vessel and reported seeing a “minimal leak” from the hatches.
“As observed, it’s not yet alarming because it’s just a small volume seeping out and the tank itself is intact. We are hoping that tomorrow we will be able to start siphoning the oil from the motor tanker,” he told reporters.
He admitted that removing the oil cargo would be a race against time, as inclement weather and huge waves remain.
Leak widens
Meanwhile, the visible oil slick has more than tripled in size and is now estimated to stretch 12-14 kilometers across Manila Bay, which thousands of fishermen and tourism operators rely on for their livelihood.
The ship that will carry the recovered oil is on its way to the area, Balilo said.
The PCG has warned that if the entire cargo leaked it would be an “environmental catastrophe.”
Diesel plus industrial oil
The oil leaking from the tanker was earlier thought to be the diesel fuel that powered the vessel, which is resting on the sea floor in 34 meters (116 feet) of water.
The PCG considered the slick a mixture of diesel and industrial oil.
Oil containment booms had been deployed for what Balilo earlier described as “the worst-case scenario” of the cargo leaking out. Three PCG ships were also spreading dispersants on the oil slick.
The vessel sank nearly seven kilometers from its port of origin in Limay, Bataan, west of Manila. It was attempting to return to port after running into bad weather.
Vessel tracking website vesselfinder.com said the tanker was built in 2002.
The PCG met with representatives of the MT Terra Nova’s owner and a contracted salvage company on Friday to discuss the salvaging timeline.
Portavaga Shipping, which operates the Terra Nova, said a tugboat loaded with additional oil spill equipment was deployed to install oil spill booms. It had also assigned divers to do an underwater survey.
Balilo said the underwater current beneath the sinking site was not that strong for the tanker to break up and release its cargo.
In Bataan, Governor Joet Garcia said local officials continued to monitor and coordinate with government agencies to contain the spill that may affect the province.
Earlier spills
It took months to clean up after a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro last year, contaminating its waters and beaches, including the Verde Island Passage heritage site, devastating local fisheries and tourism.
In 2006, a tanker sank off the island of Guimaras, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that destroyed a marine reserve, ruined local fishing grounds and covered stretches of coastline in black sludge.
PCG deflecting blame?
Balilo earlier said they might get help from allied PCG forces, including the United States and Japan, as the PCG equipment for these eventualities had not yet been updated.
Balilio’s insistence that the Terra Nova did not violate any rules and regulations on protocols during severe weather conditions raised eyebrows among fishermen and newsmen based in Bataan.
Some commenters on social media lambasted the PCG for allowing the vessel to sail despite the bad weather.
The PCG detachment in Lamao, Limay, which should know which agency approved the departure of the Terra Nova, refused to answer this reporter’s queries, raising suspicions the PCG wants to “sanitize” if not fine-tune the incident report to evade blame and responsibility.
