MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has begun putting up improvised oil spill booms to contain the spread of industrial fuel oil from the sunken Terra Nova tanker in Manila Bay and other areas.
In a message sent to reporters Monday, PCG said the PCG Auxiliary created improvised oil spill booms made of coconut husk to help the recovery operations in the waters of Limay, Bataan where the MT Terra Nova sank last week.
According to the PCG, just like the typical oil spill boom, the coconut husk booms will control the spread of oil in the affected areas.
In a report from local-based environmental group Greenpeace Philippines, the oil spill from Manila Bay has already reached the coasts of Hagonoy, Bulacan following a thick layer of oil that was seen approximately 4 kilometers from the coastline at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.
The removal of 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil from the vessel’s hold has been postponed until at least Tuesday, as divers need to seal 14 leaking valves first, according to PCG spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo on Sunday.
“An order was given to seal the valves first before the start of the siphoning operations in order to prevent further leakages,” Balilo said.
Despite the adverse weather conditions, the PCG plans to complete the sealing of the valves by Monday.
The MT Terra Nova sank in the wee hours of Thursday due to bad weather conditions, despite this, the crew was permitted to leave Bataan for Iloilo since there were no public storm warning signals raised in the area prior to the capsizing of the vessel.
PCG reports showed that 16 of the 17 crew members were rescued while the lone missing crew was found dead after 14 hours of search and rescue operations.
