MANILA, Philippines — Due to bad weather, the oil recovery of the MV Mirola 1 that was run aground in Bataan last week was postponed, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
In a status report, PCG told reporters that the recovery of sludge oil, or the combined oil from the machinery, engine oil, and diesel, was later suspended following the start of oil recovery after experiencing bad weather conditions.
The manual scooping will resume once the weather conditions are reportedly okay, the PCG said.
On Thursday, the PCG said oil recovery operations in the aground vessel will be conducted manually.
“The PCG personnel are placing the collected oil into large drums, which will then be transported to a waste disposal facility to ensure that it does not cause any harmful effects on the health of the residents,” the PCG said.
The MV Mirola 1 was the third tanker to be caught in trouble in Bataan waters was reportedly having oil sheens and diesel oil smells in the area where it ran aground, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
The PCG and the provincial disaster and risk reduction bureau of Bataan earlier conducted aerial surveillance and shoreline assessment in the vicinity waters of Sitio Quiapo, Barangay Biaan, Mariveles, Bataan, where MV Mirola 1 ran aground.
Authorities observed minimal oil sheens and a light smell of diesel oil within the area.
The team in charge of the operation also collected samples for water sampling analysis, it said.
Other information about the operation remains unknown as of writing time but the PCG earlier told reporters that the salvage operations are geared towards the sunken MTKR Terranova.
The MV Mirola 1 was the third vessel to confront maritime trouble in Bataan following the capsizing of MTKR Terranova last Thursday in Limay, Bataan, and was briefly followed by the sinking of MTKR Jason Bradley two days later. The MV Mirola 1 was actually the first to get into trouble as it allegedly ran aground on July 23 but it was only reported on Tuesday.
According to PCG officials, the MV Mirola 1 accident is not as harmful compared to the MTKR Terranova which was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil and could be the largest oil spill in the country should the authorities fail to contain the spill in the sunken tanker. st memorable scenes that went viral on social media was the collision of several barges that came from Marikina river with F. Manalo bridge in the city. One died from the incident.
